' f <• 




Qass_ , 'l^ 



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Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN THE LITURGY. 

The tragic drama cleraancls a noble soul seeking expression amid 
adverse conditions, or held back from its goal through collision with 
opposing circumstance. When the ideal dies out from society the 
drama dies, or lives only as an echo of the masters so long as the 
remembrance of former ambitions dwells in the minds of men. For 
this I'eason the Roman drama died. At best it was but an echo of 
the Greek, since ideality was not a Roman trait. At worst, when the 
integrity of the Roman had yielded to a disbelief in all high aims, it 
became abhorrent to all right-thinking men. The vulgar called for 
realistic brutality in the amphitheatre and for beastly lust upon the 
stage, and the nobles, with a cynicism born of negations, hastened 
to do their bidding. The genius of the drama forsook the stage for 
the byeways and hedges, where, as mime and farce, it could still 
appeal to nature in the primitive man. 

The Western world was again without a drama. It had broken 
the traditions that bound it to the old, and must seek in some new 
channel for thoughts worthy of dramatic expression. The early 
Greeks found such in the worship of Dionysus ; the inheritors of 
their worn-out civilization felt in the profoundest sense a dynamic 
idea in the Christian faith. 

We have, then, to seek the sources of the new drama in the Chris- 
tian ideals. 

The climax of a tragedy in life was recognized in the marvelous 
self-sacrifice of Christ. Around the Eucharist, the memorial of 
thanksgiving for that death and resurrection, grew up the Christian 
worship. As a fit approach to that solemn feast, various acts of 
preparation were introduced, until, as a result, an established mode 
of procedure, a formal liturgy, expressed the devotion of the disciple 
not less by action than by word. 

At first the familiar worship of the synagogue suggested appro- 
priate additions ; and prayers' in common, consisting of praise, 
reading, and supplication," formed a fit introduction to the Eucha- 

1 Acts 2, 43. 2 Burbidfrc, p. 3. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 7 

rist. That this did not, however, become a fixed form within the 
first centur}^ is evident, since The Teaching of the Twelve Apos- 
tles, after the short outline of a service, adds " But permit the proph- 
ets to give thanks in what terms they will,'" and Clemens Romanus 
(97 A. D.) exhorts the Corinthian Church to preserve due order and 
unity, and makes mention of the Jewish system of priests and sacri- 
fices as furnishing patterns for Christians to follow.'^ Such instruc- 
tions reveal the pervading influence of Jewish rites and the fluidity 
of prevailing customs. 

The Church, however, was passing into the hands of the Greeks, 
whose logical and artistic bent of mind sought immediate expression 
in their adopted worship. There are many evidences to show that 
the Greeks from the first sought to adprn and extend the ritual from 
the stores of their own civilization. ■^Dr. Schaff' declai-es that " the 
Hellenists were much more liberal than the Palestinian Jews, This 
is evident in the whole Church at Antioch." To the Greeks, then, 
must we look for the liberalizing of the provincial notions of the Jew. 

From such sources, combining Jewish and Grecian elements, the 
Christian liturgy slowly grew up, until in 103 A. D. Pliny could 
repoiV to the Emperor Trajan, on the testimony of renegade 
Christians, 

That they had been accustomed on a stated day to assemble before light, and 
sing amongst themselves in ttirn a hymn to Christ as God, and to bind them- 
selves by an oath not to commit an}' crime, but that they would not commit theft 
or robbery or adtiltery, nor break their word, nor be false in that which was en- 
trusted to them ; and that after this it was their custom to se^iarate, and to 
meet again to take a meal, but that it was in common and harmless. 

This report would seem to reveal to us a divided service ; in the 
earlj^ morning a song service with a solemn oath before the day's 
duties, and later the communion ; but we must remember that this 
is the report of an outsider who may have understood the matter but 
imperfectly. The Christians adopted fixed hours of prayer from the 
Jews,^ one of which was in the early morning. It is quite possible 
that Pliny confused the morning hour of prayer with the day serv- 
ice. This seems the more probable, since thirtj'^-six yeai's later 
(A. D. 139) Justin Martyr reports a much more developed service. 
He saj^s :* 



1 Burbidge, p. 20. 2 Burbidge, p. 5. 3 Schafif, vol. 1, p. 87. 

4 Burbidge, p. 20. = Burbidge, p. 112. 6 Burbidge, p. 27. 



8 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

On the day called Sunday a meeting takes place of all who dwell in cities or 
in the country, and the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets 
are read as long as time permits. Then, when the reader ceases, the one who 
takes the lead admonishes by word of mouth and exhorts to the imitation of 
these good things. Then we all rise together and put up prayers ; and, as was said 
before, when we have ceased from prayer, bread is offered and wine and water, 
and he who takes the lead puts up prayers likewise, and thanksgivings according 
to his ability, and the people give their assent, saying, Amen. 

Justin Martyr knew the chiircli service, and bis report is authori- 
tative. It reveals a more formal service than that of the first de- 
cades, the exercises consisting of Reading, Exhortations, Prayer, 
the Eucharist, and Thanksgiving. These he names, as we judge 
from later liturgies, in the order of service. The Eucharist, a 
thanksgiving in act, closing appropriately with a thanksgiving in 
word, is fitly introduced by the Prophets or Acts, with exhortation 
and prayer. 

Two hundred years pass by within which is found no extended 
report of the manner of worship. Then appear the Apostolic 
Constitutions, from which is drawn the so-called Clementine Liturgy, 
which is as follows :' 

Lection from Law and Prophets." 

Lection from Epistles. 

Lection from Gospels. 

Sermon. 

Litanies for Catechumens, etc., and Dismissal. 

Litany for Faithful. 

The Peace of God be with you all. 

Kiss of Peace. 

Washing of Hands. 

Offering of the Gifts. ^ 

Prayer of BishoiJ. 

The Grace of Almighty God, and the Love, etc. 

Sursum Corda. 

Preface ending with Sanctus. 

Commemoration of the work of Redemption. 

Words of Institution : In the night in which He was betrayed. 

Offering in remembrance of Passion. 

Invocation of Holy Spirit. 

Prayer for the whole Church, including the faithful departed. 

Peace of God be with you all. Prayer of Humble Access. 

Holy things to Holy. R. One holy, etc. Glory to God in the highest, etc. 

Communion. Psalm xxxiv. 

Thanksgiving. 

Blessing. 



1 Burbidge, Front. 2 The Little Entrance or Introit. 

3 The Great Entrance or Offertory. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 9 

In this liturgy of the fourth century we see much more clearly the 
dramatic character of the service, which may now be roughly divided 
into two acts. The Eucharist holds as ever the commanding posi- 
tion. The fii'st act is one of preparation ; the second leads directly 
to the Eucharist, its fitting climax. 

As to the method of division in this inchoate drama there may be 
different views. Klein/ having in mind the Liturgy of St. Chrysos- 
tom,'' in which a ' Preparation ' precedes the Introit, casts the church 
service into three acts, the first closing immediately before the In- 
troit, the second before the Great Entrance. Dr. Schaff' holds that 
every Oriental liturgy is a symbolical drama of two acts, the second 
act beginning with Sursum Corda. It might be as satisfactory to 
consider the liturgy as a drama of two acts, the first beginning with 
the Introit — the Inti'oduction, where there is one, being treated 
as a species of prologue — and the second opening with the Great 
Entrance. 

The exact method of division is immaterial. The fact remains 
that we have in the Clementine Liturgy a dramatic framework which 
needed only the interspersion of the quick exchange of act and 
speech to form a veritable drama. This need, however, was a serious 
one, and a rival sect was not slow, as we shall see, to take advan- 
tage of the defect. 

In some form singing of i^salms had been a feature of the church 
woi'ship from the first. There had been some definite assignment of 
musical parts in temple and synagogue worship ;' moreover. Psalms 
24 and 134 appear to have been composed for antiphonal singing. 
Philo speaks of such singing among the Essenes, in language which 
agrees closely with that used by Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, in 
370 A. D., when he says,^ "And now, divided into two parts, they 
sing alternately to each other. Afterwards they commit the leading 
of the melody to one, and the rest follow him." Pliny's statement 
that the Christians sang " amongst themselves in turn " proves its 
survival among the Christians. 

Nevertheless, whatever the method of singing may have been, that 
lively alternation, which gives movement and interest to antiphonal 
singing, must have been lacking. Indeed there are signs that music 
itself fell into disuse or was of little prominence, for no writer after 
St. Chrysostom could have omitted, as did Justin Martyr,' all men- 
tion of it, in a description of the service. 

1 Klein, vol. 4, p. 10. 2 Burbldge, Front. s SchafiP, vol. 3, p. 534. 

i Smith's Diet, of Christian Biog. s. v. Ignatius. 6 Burbidge, p. 13. 6 See p. 8. 
Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 



10 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

About the middle of the fourth century the orthodox church saw 
dark days. The Arian sect, with its taking hymnology, was militant 
in the Christian world. The orthodox Bishop of Antioch was driven 
into exile, and the fortunes of the faithful sank to a low ebb. It 
was at this time, tradition says, that Flavius' and Diodorus of 
Antioch revived — or, possibly more accurately, invented — antiphonal 
singing. In any case, the time was ripe for it. St. John Chrysos- 
tom" used it in processions to combat Arian hymnology, and Am- 
brose,^ Bishop of Milan, brought it to the West. 

For many characteristics of antiphonal singing the church was 
probably indebted to the Greek drama. The Arian hymnology had 
made clear the need of a naore prominent musical eleiuent, but 
does not, so far as can now be determined, satisfactorily explain the 
peculiar arrangement of antiphonal singing. If one will place the 
liturgical service side by side with one of the old Greek tragic dra- 
mas, he will be struck by the correspondence of function between the 
choir of the one and the chorus of the other. This pertains not 
alone to the frequent dividing and reuniting of chorus and choir 
respectively, nor to the distribution of the singing throughout the 
action of the play and liturgy, but is present in a more subtle sense. 
The chorus interprets and accentuates the action of the drama, but 
rarely advances it. The choir discharges the same office continually 
for the service of the liturgy, as it passes on to its climax in the 
Eucharist. 

If now the Responsoria are added to this forming liturgy — which, 
however, tradition assigns to the Italians, but which seem so close a 
copy of the interchange of speech between the protagonist and 
chorus, and are so strikingly akin to the antiphon that one must 
suspect a common origin — the liturgy has received in the fourth 
century that final form and texture which through the use of fifteen 
centuries has remained practically unaltered. Additions, expansions, 
intrusions, have at times been made, but the Roman and English 
liturgies of to-day are essentially the same as St. Chrysostora's Lit- 
urgy of the fourth century. 

Nor should it be thought singular that the Fathers looked to 
the classic theater for aid. The theater had a strong hold upon the 
people ; witness Tertullian's^ De Spectaculis (A. D. 200) against plays, 
and St. John Chrysostom's' threat of excommunication, if any of his 

1 Smith's Diet, of Christian Biog. s. v. Flavius. 2 Schaff, vol. 3, p. 579. 

a Smith's Diet, of Christian Biog. s. v. Ambrose. * Hase, p. 1. 

8 Hase, p. 5. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 11 

flock attended theaters on holy days. That they should go for aid 
to the classic plays, which were still used for closet study, is no 
stranger than that they should adopt the Roman basilica for a 
church type, or plant Christmas' upon the Roman Saturnalia. The 
church had need of these things, and used them so wisely that 
it made out of the skeleton of the Clementine Liturgy an artis- 
tically complete symbolical drama in the St. Chrysostom Liturgy. 
The symbolical character of their worship was emphasized by his- 
torical, typical, and allegoricaP pictures, among which ' Adam and 
Eve,' the 'Adoration of the Magi,' and the 'Shepherd who carries 
the Lost Lamb upon his Shoulders ' are enumerated.^ Some of these 
were passing out of use by the middle of the fourth century, as 
discarded molds, no longer suitable for the thought of the church. 
Furthermore, the readiness with which the church assimilated Greek 
culture is easily accounted for when we reflect that* "to Justin 
Martyr, Origen, and Clement of Alexandria, Greek philosophy was 
the bridge to the Christian faith." 

However, the distance from the symbolical drama to the tragic 
is not easily passed. It cannot be bridged by any development of 
symbolism itself. The difl^erence is essential and intrinsic. Li the 
first place, abstract thought that does not admit of concrete presenta- 
tion cannot form even a symbolical drama. Hence where philoso- 
phy, as in India, has dominated thought since the rise of literature, 
there can be no true drama. 

The Hindoos' one attempt to form a mystery play, the Prabodha- 
Chandrodaya,^ the Birth of Ideas, shows, through the superlative 
hideousness of its allegorical actors, the violent forcing of material 
into unnatural expression. Even in the florescence of Attic tragedy 
the authors recognized vaguely that the rising schools of philosophy 
were their foes. When the domination of Attic thought by philos- 
ophy was finally complete, the drama forsook its ideals, and sought 
for motive in society and intrigue. 

In the Christian liturgy, symbolism presented at second hand the 
concrete embodiment of the profoundest ethical philosophy, since 
the tableaux and allegories pictured the story of Christ, who offered 
in his own life and action a solution of the ethical problems of the 
race. The true literary expression of this material was found in the 
allegorical poems so abundant in the Middle Ages, which ultimately 

1 Wilken, pp. 1, 3. « Schaff, vol. 2, p. 274. 

3 1 find no evidence of living tableaux in the church at this date, as given by Klein, vol. 
4, p. 11. •• Schaff, vol. 1, p. 78. b Klein, vol. 3, p. 15. 



12 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

attained their richest flowering in the Divina Coramedia and the 
Fairy Queen. The true drama demands material that can be made 
one with the actor. The profoundest philosophy can be presented, 
as in Hamlet or King Lear, but it must be presented indirectly 
through the life, or the results arising from the life, of the actor. 

The tragic drama deniDuds situations that shall excite the deepest 
emotions in the spectator, and as agent a soul great enough to combat 
mighty influences, that the beholder's liveliest sympathy may be 
called into action. Can these conditions be met by a drama that 
attains its climax in a thank-offering ? If not, then, after the sym- 
bolical drama was established in the Christian liturgy, further dra- 
matic advance was impossible. The service might be loaded with 
ornament — incense, genuflections, vestments ; but these could only 
cloud the simple dramatic outline of the eai'ly liturgy. The passage 
to true dramatic expression remained imi^ossible. 

Meanwhile, the old drama had sunk into utter darkness, beneath 
the contempt of men and through the puerility and grossness of its 
matter. For five centuries the world waited for the drama. From 
the Christian worship, its proper source, it could not come without 
some essential change within the liturgy itself, yet the thought of 
Europe was wholly taken up with the story of the Christ and the 
wonderful plan of salvation which had been elaborated by the 
theologians. 

It is true that there are signs that a drama might have arisen in 
time from another source. The pastoral of Theocritus had devel- 
oped in dialogue. Whether, without the aid of the religious drama, 
it could have acquired suflicient plot of dramatic quality to form 
even the pastoral drama which later spread through Western Europe, 
is an interesting question. Its indebtedness to the I'eligious drama 
can be plainly seen in Spain, where Enzina' used the church drama 
as an aid to the pastoral, and set the type for Spain and Portugal. 
But the passage from pastoral to tragedy would have been a giant 
sti'ide, and proved unnecessary, for within the liturgy grew up the 
needful tragic motive, and from that sprang the religious drama. It 
becomes our next task to show the shifting of standpoint within the 
liturgy which arose from the acceptance of a new theological dogma, 
to detect the introduction of a genuinely tragic moment, and to trace 
the growth of dramatic expression within the church service itself. 

1 Ticknor, vol. 1, p. 345. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 13 



II. 

THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION AS A DRAMATIC 

MOTIVE. 

It is probable that from a very early day the church considered 
the Eucharist as something more than a commemorative breaking of 
bread. It is certain that within the first centuries the belief that in 
some mystical, spiritual sense Christ was present in the Lord's 
Supper was prevalent in the church. But this mysticism, so 
attractive to the mind of the Oriental, is contrary to the habits of 
Wes.tern thought, which seeks for reality beneath speculation, and 
for a philosophy that can be mirrored in the life. Therefore we 
see without surprise as early as the sixth century signs of approach- 
ipg materialistic views of the Eucharist. St. Gregory's words,' 
*' Take this bread and offer it as a sacrifice for my sins," show that 
the propitiatory idea was superseding the idea of thank-offering. 
Still it won its way but slowly. It is not found in the Liturgy of 
St. Gregory, upon which the mediaeval Mass was built, though with 
many additions.'^ 

Not until the ninth century^ did the doctrine of the Sacrament 
become an object of controversy. The issue was defined when Rad- 
bertus propounded the doctrine of Transubstantiation, in his treatise 
addressed to Charles the Bald." The controversy that immediately 
arose shows how foreign such views were to the theological thought 
of the time. Nevertheless, once formulated, the tenet rapidly 
gained credence, and the treatment which Berengar' received in the 
eleventh century, because he held that Christ was present in the 
Eucharist in a spiritual sense only, proves how completely the doc- 
trine of the Real Presence had gained the day. 

Within these two centuries, from the last half of the ninth to the 
first half of the eleventh, this most momentous change had taken 
place in Christian thought. Within these two centuries the dra- 
matic development of the liturgy began in all countries of the Roman 
Catholic faith. This is more than coincidence. It is cause and 
effect. The dramatic element, hitherto lacking in the Christian 
liturgy, was now present through a belief that aroused the most 
intense emotions in the worshiper. Day after day the devout among 
the clergy saw the Son of God offered up, a present sacrifice, for 
their sins. What act of more awful import could be imagined ! 

1 Burbidpe, p. 95. 2 Burbidge, p. 67. s Schaff, vol. 3, p. 492. 

* McClintock and Strong, s. v. Lord's Supper. s Schaff, vol. 4, p. 556. 



] 4 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

And when the church services, following the incidents of His life, 
came around to the dates of His death and resurrection, what longing 
must have possessed them to present vividly to the ignorant and 
heedless multitude those moments now stored for them with such 
sacred meaning ! 

The liturgical drama, therefore, is the legitimate outgrowth of a 
situation well stated by Dr. Schaff : 

In the sacrifice of the mass the whole mysterious fulness and glory of the 
Catholic worship is concentrated. Here the idea of the priesthood reaches its 
dizzy summit, and here the devotion and awe of the spectator rises to the high- 
est pitch of adoration. 1 

Or it may be stated in words which the Catholic Church accepts : 

The Church commemorates every day the bloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ on 
the Cross, by a true and real unbloody sacrifice ; in which she oifers to God the 
same body and blood that were given for the sins of the world. '^ 

These words, through continual repetition and the unbelief of our 
day, no longer appeal, even to those who accept them, with a tithe 
of the force with which they impressed the credulous minds of 
mediaeval times. To them the immediate result was a notable 
increase in the spirit of devotion, which expressed itself in the elabo- 
rate rituals, and in the desire to present this awful sacrifice to the 
people as vividly as the priests themselves felt it. This dramatic 
development of the liturgy did not owe its origin to the frivolous 
and irreverent among the clergy, though these, doubtless, eagerly 
seized upon it for amusement, but to the reverent desire of the pious 
to present Christ's life vividly to the people, a desire that could now 
find true dramatic expression, since the Mass was no longer a symbol, 
but a veritable life history, closing before the eyes of the spectators 
in a most sublime self-sacrifice. 

Thus it came about that under the new view of the Eucharist the 
liturgy presented dramatic moments of heightened interest at each 
salient point of Christ's career. These fall naturally into two groups : 
those of his birth and childhood, and those that pertain to his death 
and resurrection, the latter forming a group of most intensely dra- 
matic value. 

As Sunday after Sunday the people see the Christ actually lifted 
up before them, the sense of the reality of the sacrifice grows. 
When with Holy Week the altars are stripped and continual suppli- 
cation and lamentation fill the church, they are prepared to feel on 

1 Schafif, vol. 3, p. 505. 2 The Office of the Holy Week. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 15 

Good Friday that an actual sacrifice of momentous consequence to 
them is taking place. The new sense of the import of this sacrifice 
heightens the devotional feeling in the clergy, and they long to 
make this as real to the people as it is to themselves, and sometimes 
to make it as vivid to their own consciousness as it is to their faith. 
This led to a more realistic presentation of the awful sacrifice and of 
the joy of the Resurrection. 

We must not, however, expect that the history of these dramatic 
moments will be the same. The Crucifixion was too solemn a thing 
for elaborate realism, but the Resurrection readily lent itself to dra- 
matic presentation. Therefore we must expect to find the Cruci- 
fixion a reverent but slightly developed drama, until it passed into 
the hands of the people, and time and custom had deadened their 
sense of its sacredness. 



III. 



THE DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK IN THE CATHOLIC LITURGY 
OF MODERN TIMES. 

We turn npw to the records that remain, and will attempt to trace 
the development of these two dramatic moments, considering first 
the dramatic traces in the modern Roman Liturgy of Holy Week, 
and next in the old English liturgies, passing thence to the more 
elaborate development in the liturgies of the continent, where we 
will trace the Crucifixion and the Resurrection independently. 

The liturgy of modern times, according to the author' chosen, 
admits of the following sketch of dramatic action. 

THE MORNING OFFICE FOR GOOD FRIDAY. 

THE MASS. 

The Priest and his Ministers, in black vestments, go to the Altar, without 
lights and incense, and prostrate themselves before it; while the Acolytes cover it 
with one linen cloth. The gospel is St. John 18. After the prayers the 
Priest puts off his vestment, and taking from the Altar the Cross covered with 
a veil, he goes to the epistle-comer, where he uncovers the top of it, and shows 
it to the people, singing the Antiphon: Ecce lignum ci"ucis. Then the Deacon 
and Subdeacon join with him in singing the rest: In quo salus mundi pependit. 
And the choir prostrate on the ground answers: Venite, adoremus. From thence 
the Priest proceeds to the right side of the Altar, where he uncovers the right 
arm of the Cross, singing a second time, ecce lignum, as before. Lastly, he goes 



1 The Office of the Holy Week. 



16 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

to the middle of the Altar, and uncovers the whole Cross, singing a third time, 
ecce lignum. After this, he carries it to a place prepared before the Altar, 
where he adores first himself, and then the clergy and laity, all kneeling thrice 
on both knees, and kissing the feet of the Crucifix. When the adoration of the 
Cross is almost finished, the candles upon the Altar are lighted, and after the 
adoration the Cross is placed again upon the Altar. 

Afterwards the Priest receives in communion the host that has 
been consecrated on Maundy Thursday, and placed in a tabernacle 
appropriately^ decorated and lighted. 

There is in this no sign of the mediaeval custom of placing Christ 
in the sepulchre, but our author states that a custom, which is very 
significant, is observed by the laity. After the host is placed in the 
tabernacle on Maundy Thursday, it is visited by the laity, who call 
this ' Visiting Sepulchres,' ' which our author cannot reconcile with 
" lights and the richest ornaments ; things very unbecoming a sep- 
ulchre." 

This custom is, however, easily explained, if we compare with the 
modern service the ceremony as given by the York MissaP of the 
twelfth century. I omit all before the adoration, as the variations 
are unimportant and foreign to our purpose. It reads : 

Dum populus adorat, canatur Antiphona cum Versu. . . . Tandem adorata 
Cruce, bajulent eam duo Vicarii usque ad locum sepulcri, ubi Prfelatus eam 
accipiens incipiat has Antiphonas, et Chonis finiat. . . . Postea Prfelatus ponat 
flexis genibus Crucem in sepulchro et duos cereos accensos cum duobus urceis ; 
postea thurificet eam, et tunc erectus incipiat Antiphonam. 

Although in the Missal for Good Friday nothing is said about 
placing a host with the crucifix in the sepulchre, we know that it 
was done ; for, in the Missal for Thursday, Feria V. in die Cenae, 
we read:' 

Ponantur a Diacono tres hostias ad consecrandum, quarum duae reserventur in 
erastinum, una ad percipiendum ab Executore Officii; reliqua, ut ponatur cum 
Cruce in Sepulchro.* 

1 The Office of the Holy Week, p. 183. 

2 The York Missal, vol. 1, pp. 106-7. Note.— MS. A, owned by Rev. John Gott, Leeds, 
Eng-., is in part of the twelfth century, in part of the fifteenth. MS. D is in the library 
of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. It is of the fifteenth century, and contains many 
rubrics not given in the other six MSS. The portion of MS. A used in this work is of 
the twelfth century. The portions from MS. D are noted. 

3 The York Missal, p. 97, MS. D. 

•« In the abbey church of Durham the host was inclosed in crystal, and set into the 
breast of the image of the Savior. Hone's Ancient Mysteries, p. 233, quoting from 
Davies's Rites of the Cathedral of Durham. 



Charles Davidson — English 3fystery Plays, 1 7 

That is, the first of the three is used on Thursday, the second on 
Friday after the priest returns to the altar, and the third rests in 
the sepulchre.' 

1 Parker's Glossary of Architecture gives under ' Sepulchre ' the following: " A rep- 
resentation of the entombment of our Savior, set up in the Roman Catholic church at 
Easter on the north side of the chancel, near the altar ; in this country previous to the 
Eeformation, it was most commonly a wooden erection, and placed within a recess in the 
wall or upon a tomb, but several churches still contain permanent stone structures that 
were built for that purpose, some of which are very elaborate, and ai"e ornamented 
with a variety of decorations, as at Navenby and Heckington, Lincolnshii-e ; and Haw- 
ton, Nottinghamshire, all of which are beautiful specimens of the Decorated style : 
sepulchres of this kind also remain in the churches at Northwold, Norfolk ; Holcombe 
Burnell, Southpool, and Woodleigh, Devonshire ; and in sevei'al others. . . . The lower 
part generally contains representations of sleeping soldiers, intended for the Roman 
guard." 

Britton's Eedcliffe Church, p. 37, quoted by Parker : — 

Item, That Maister Canynge hath deliver'd this 4th day of July, in the year of our 
Lord, 1470, to Maister Nicholas Petters, vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe : Moses Conterin, 
Philip Barthelmew, procui-ators of St. Mary Redclitfe, aforesaid : a new sepulchre well 
gilt with golde, and a civer thereto. 

Item, An image of God Almighty rising out of the same sepulchre, with all the ordi- 
nance that 'longeth thereto, (that is to say) a lathe made of timber and the iron-work 
thereto. 

Item, Thereto 'longeth Heaven, made of timber and stain'd clothes. 

Item, Hell made of timber, and iron-work thereto, with Divels to the number of 13. 
. Item, 4 Knights armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands ; 
that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with 2 paves. 

Item, 4 payr of Angels' wings for 4 Angels, made of timber and well painted. 

Item, The Fadre, the Crowne and Visage, the ball with a Cross upon it, well gilt with 
fine gould. 

Item, The Holy Ghosht coming out of Heaven into the sepulchre. 

Item, Longeth to the 4 Angels 4 Chevelers. 

Articles of Visitation, by Abp. Cranmer, 2 Ed. VI., quoted by Parker : — 

Item, Whether they had upon Good Friday last past the sepulchres with their lights, 
having the Sacrament therein. 

Test. Johan. de Ledes, 1379. Test. Ebor. 196, quoted by Parker :— 

Lego duo tapeta rubea dictse ecclesife meaj pro reparacione sepulchri in die parascues. 

Accompts of S. Helen's, Abingdon. Archa^ol. vol. 1, p. 16, quoted by Parker :— 
A. D. 1558 : Payde for making the Sepulture, 10s. 

For pej'nting the same sepulture, 3s. 

For stones, and other charges about it, 4s. 6d. 

To the sexton for meat and drink, and watching the sepulture, according 
to custom, 22d. 

Hone's Ancient Mysteries, p. 221, quoting the Beehive of the Romish Church, says : 
*' Yea, and in some places, they make the grave in a hie place in the church where men 
must goe up manie steppes, which are decked with blacke cloth from above to beneath, 
and vpon euery steppe standeth a siluer candlesticke with a waxe candle burning in it, 
and there do walke souldiours in harnesse, as bright as Saint George, which keepe the 
grave, till the priests come and take him up : and then commeth sodenlie a flash of fire, 
wherewith they are all afraid and fall downe : and then vpstarts the man, and they 
begin to sing Alleluia, on all hands, and then the clock strikes eleuen." 



18 Gharles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

IV. 

THE DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK IN THE YORK LITURGY. 

We turn now to the Easter service in the mediteval liturgies, and 
place the York liturgy in comparison with the continental order of 
service. An interesting situation is revealed. In the York Missal 
the traces of dramatic action are scattered, as in the modern liturgy, 
through the services of Easter, Easter Monday, and Easter Tuesday, 
not concentrated, as in the continental liturgies, in the service of 
Easter. In the Victimae Paschali Laudes occurs : 

Die nobis, Maria ! quid vidisti in via ? 

Sepulchram Christi viventis, et gloriam vidi resurgentis, 

Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes. 

Surrexit Cliristiis spes mea, praecedet vos in Galilaeam. 

This is repeated also on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday we find 
the verse preceding to be : 

Angelus Domini deseendit de cselo, et accedens revolvit lapidem, et sedebat 
super eura. 

On Tuesday the verse is : 

Surrexit Dominus de sepvilchro, qui pro nobis pependit in ligno. 
In the York Missal the Resurrection Drama also appears in a 
broken and disconnected condition. On Easter Sunday, after bless- 
ing the fire and the water, the clergy assume festal garments, but the 
Victimae Paschali Laudes is not the Sequence for the day, so there is 
absolutely nothing of a dramatic nature in the Easter service. In 
Feria ii post Pascha, however, we find clear traces. Luke 24. 13- 
35, is read. The Offertorium gives :' 

Angelus Domini deseendit de cselq, et dixit mulieribus : quern queeritis ? 
surrexit, sicut dixit, alleluya. 

In Feria iii post Pascha appears :^ 

V. Angelus Domini deseendit de eaelo, et aceedens revolvit lapidem, et sedebat 
super eum. 

V. Eespondens autem angelus dixit mulieribus : Quem qiiaeritis ? Illae autem 
dixerunt : Jesum Nazarenem. 

Then follow the Victimae Paschali Laudes, containing : 

Die nobis, Maria, quid vidisti in via ? 

Sepulchrum Christi viventis, et gloriam vidi resurgentis, 

Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes. 

Surrexit Christus spes nostra, prfecedet vos in Galilaeam. 

Credendum est magis soli Mariae veraci, quam Judaeorum turbse fallaei. 

Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere ; tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere. 

1 York Missal, p. 128. 2 York Missal, p. 129. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 19 

How much acting accompanied this song it is impossible to state 
with certainty, bixt one may venture the supposition that a portion 
of the choir or certain priests sang the question : " Die nobis, Maria, 
quid vidisti in via ?," that the three following lines were sung by 
single voices personating the three Maries respectively, that the 
former singers then followed with the line beginning " Credendum," 
and that all joined in the last line. There is nothing in the text to 
indicate the method of rendering. The passage is in prose as given 
above, not in verse, as the passage given by Pollard' seems to be. 

This ends the direct evidence from the York Missal, but not the 
indirect. There must have been more to this drama than that indi- 
cated in the text. In the Good Friday service the crucifix and host 
were placed in the sepulchre to await a resurrection on Easter, as 
we know from the continental liturgies. No account of this resur- 
rection is given, and, as there is a distinct change in the service on 
Easter, when, after days of mourning vestures and lamentation, 

Praelatus cuin septem vel quinqiie Diaconibus dahnaticatis, et totidem Sub- 
diaconibus tunicatis festive paratis, prtecedentibus Cereferariis et duobus 
Thuriferis, introeat ad Altare, 

I incline to the opinion that the Resurrection Play took place 
immediately before that action. 

That the directions for the drama should be omitted is not strange, 
as in many churches, continental as well as English, the Play was 
regarded as foreign to the service and excluded from the Missal. 
Moreover, we have direct references to such plays in two places in 
the York Missal. On Christmas — Ad Missam in Gallicantu,* MS. 
D says : 

Peractisque ibidem omnibus quae juxta morem dicenda vel facienda suut, 
incipiat Executor Officiis ad Altare Gloria in excelsis cum nota de angelis. 

And for Ad Magnam Missam MS. D adds :' 
Et peractis omnibus ibidem, quae peragenda sunt, incipiat Sacerdos orationem. 

These prove the recognized standing of such plays, though out- 
side of the Missal, and also that the directions for them were not 
always inserted, as MS. D alone has them, the other MSS. being 
notably deficient in rubrics in many places. This closes the York 
testimony concerning these plays, and we pass to the continent, as 
I have not the Sarum Use at hand. 

I Pollard, p. XV. 2 York Missal, p. 14. s York Missal, p. 18. 



20 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



V. 

THE DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK IN EARLY CONTINENTAL 

LITURGIES. 

The traces left in the Alemannic liturgy will serve to illustrate the 
dramatic features of the continental service. 

Ordo in Parasceve:^ 

& cruce sahitata, & in suo loco reposita. 

Ordo in Paraseeve .-^ 

Interim Sacerdos fumat viaticum, eatque ad sepiilclirum ctim incense & can- 
delis cantaudo 5 • -Agnus Dei Chinstus. Ecce quomodo moritur, cum Versibus & 
repetitionibus, ponensque illud in sepulchrum incenset. & claudens illud cantet 
3- Sepulto Domino, cum Versu & repetitione, ponatui'que cereus ardens ante 
sepulchrum. 

These extracts will suffice to show that the German churches were 
practically in accord with the English as regards the Burial Pla3\ 

The act of crucifixion we might suppose too painful a scene for 
realistic presentation in the service, and so it seems to have been in 
England, but on the continent it received a peculiar dramatic treat- 
ment. The lamentation on Good Friday for the death of Christ 
was, in Germany, Jerem. chap, i, sung with a touching melody.^ 
This was superseded by a lamentation of Mary of Avhich we have 
examples in both Latin and German. There are many of these 
' Marienklagen.' They were not all, however, designed for the Good 
Fi'iday service. Some are addressed to Christ upon the cross; others 
show plainly by their content that they were sung by Mary in the 
Easter service, sometimes just before the Maries began their walk 
to the tomb, at other times on the way and leading up to the Resur- 
rection proper. The dramatic development of the former was evi- 
dently suggested by the Biblical narrative. Mary addresses her 
Son and He replies. As to how the response was contrived we have 
no information. 

Probably the first steps of this development have been lost, since 
the earliest form that we have is in metre and in a somewhat com- 
plicated stanza. From a Saint Blasien MS. of 1440 at Karlsruhe 
Mone gives :* 

1 Gerbertus, vol. 2, p. 204. « Gerbertus, vol. 2, p. 235. 

3 Mone, p. 204. * Mone, p. 42. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 21 

Planetus B. Marice vh'ginis ad filium in eriice pendentem : 

Virgo plorans filium 
ductus ad supplicium : 
Die o rex humilium, 

fili quid fecisti ? 
quia gens incredula, 
mordax velut vipera, 
te traxit ad vincula 

et crucem subisti. 

This continues through thirteen stanzas. Then .: 

Responsio afflicti filii ad mcestissimam matrem. 

This Responsio closes the song in five stanzas. 

The next step of dramatic development is shown in a MS. of 
1439, now in the library of Karlsruhe, but written in Florence.' 
The metre is more simple, but the lyrical dialogue has been greatly 
expanded. It begins : 

Ante crucem virgo stabat, 
Christi pcenas cogitabat, 
totam se dilaniabat, 
vultum lavat lacrimis, 

and continues through eight stanzas, when Christ replies in four 
stanzas, Mary answ^ering in three. Then, Respondet crux Marice 
in seven stanzas, Mary replies in three, and the cross closes the dia- 
logue in four." 

Our next example passes from the language of the church to the 
tongue of the people. The MS. is judged to be of about 1430.' 1 
give it in full, as it is comparatively short, and yet contains all the 
distinctive features of the lamentation after it had passed into the 
vulgar tongue.* 



1 Mone, p. 37. 

2 Note.— Compare with these the "Stabat Mater: The Lamentation of the Blessed 
"Virgin Mary, a Sequence or Prose, appointed, in the Roman Missal, to be sung between 
the Epistle and the Gospel, at High Mass, on the Friday in Passion Week, and the 
Third Sunday in September. The Poem, written towards the close of the thirteenth 
century by Jacobus de Benedictus, is one of the finest examples of mediasval Latin 
prose."~G rove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians s. v. Stabat Mater. 

3 Note. — It should be borne in mind that most of these plays ai'e older than the MSS. 
containing them. Nevertheless, the development in Germany seems to have been 
slower than elsewhere, and consequently many steps of development, elsewhere lost, 
have been preserved there. 

•» Hoffman, vol. 2, p. 281. 



22 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Marie klage. 

Planctus in magna sexta feria. 

Primo lohannes dicit : 
Hceret lieben liute liberal 
Einen jaemerlichen schal. 
Maria ist herkomen 
Und hat leidigin msere vernomen : 
Ir liebez kint si gevangen 
Und an ein kriuze gehangen. 

Maria dicit: 

Johannes lieber vriiint niin 
Daz du soelec miiezest sin, 
Wise mich an die stat 
DS, du min kint gelazen hast. 

lohannes dicit demonstrando siqjer. . . . : 
Maria sich an din kint, 
Daz die argen juden blint 
An ein kriuze habent geslagen : 
Des muz ich dir helfen klagen. 

Maria cantando procedit : 

Owe owe des gauges des ich g&n 
Mit jamer iind mit riuwen. 
Ich mac gesitzen noch gestan, 
Min leit wil sich verniuwen. 

lesus cantat : 

Eli, lamma sabacthani, Deus 
meus ut quam dereliquisti me ? 

Judoei annectant clavos. 

Maria cantat : 

Owe ich hoere einen ruf : 

Daz ist min kint Jesus der mich 

beschuf, 
Daz vernim ich an der stimme. 
Ich hoere die hemer klingen 
Und in sin in angest und not. 
Owe und wferich vor im tot ! 
Owe ich gen wider oder viir, 
Ez trit ouch nieman viir die tiir 
Der dise marter wende : 
Des windich mine hende. 
Ich schrle lut owe owe, 
Nu toetet mich und lat in gen. 

Maria dicit : 

Johannes lieber vriunt min, 
Nu gewir zu der marter sin, 
Und hilf mir klagen miniu leit 
Diu min sendez herze treit, 



Charles Davidson— English Mystery Plays. 23 

lohannes dicit: 
Maria muter reine, 
Weinen muge wir beide, 
W-an uns nieman troestet mer : 
Owe mir hiute unci immermer. 

Maria cantat : 

Sihestu wie er henget 
Und wie daz blut rennet 
Uz slnem reinen libe ? 

{lesus dicit:) 

Sich, muter, sicb ! Din kint 

bin ich 
Und daz jpemerlichen liange. 
Des sunders tot ich nicht enwil, 
Johanni dem bevilh ich dich. 

lohannes dicit ad Mariam : 

Muter l§,z din tiniren sin, 

Johannes sol wesen der sun din 

Und du diu muter gin. 
lesus ad lohannem dicit : 

Du solt ir sun wesen, 

So muget ir beide wol genesen. 

Maria cantat : 

Owe owe ! weinen was mir unbekant, 

Sit ich muter was genant 

Und doch mannes ane. 

Owe ! nu ist ze weinen mir geschehen, 

Sint ich sinen tot muz sehen 

Den ich ane smerzen gar 

Muter unde meit gebar. 
[Here follow some illegible Latin verses 

of which the following is the trans- 
lation] : 

Sun Johannes unde neve min, 

Du solt klagen min leit und daz din. 

Sider unz ze leid ist geschehn, 

Herzeleide miieze wir jehn. 

Owe ach und jamers zit • 

Diu an sinem tode lit, 

Davon mir ein scharpfez swert 

Mine sele gar durchvert. 

lohannes : 

Maria stella maris 

our tarn grave contristaris ? etc. 

A still further development is shown by a plaint of the thirteenth 
century— the MS. is, however, of the fifteenth century— which is 



24 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays, 

also e^iven by Hoffmann.' It begins 'Incipit planctus Mariae vir- 
ginis,' contains 406 verses, and is accompanied, as is the case with 
nearly all German Marienklagen, with the music. The stage direc- 
tions are in Latin, and the first song that John and Peter sing is in 
prose Latin, The Savior also says : " Mnlier, ecce filius tuus," and 
" Ecce mater tua " in speaking to John, but follows each with four 
verses in Gei-man, The actors are Mary, John, Peter, and the cru- 
cified Savior. The passage of time is shown, and is evidently 
intended to cover the time that Mary was by the cross in the Bib- 
lical narrative. 

As kindred to the above plaints we can best consider here the 
lamentations that precede the Resurrection Play on Easter, In a 
parchment MS, in the cloister of Lichtenthal near Baden, in a hand- 
writing of the thirteenth century, is found what Mone" declares to 
be the oldest German piece that he has discovered. It begins : 

[mama :] 
Awe der iemeiieichen clag, 
di ich muter eine trag 
von dez totez wanne ! 
weinen waz mir unbechant, 
sit ich muter was genant, 
und doch mannes anne : 
nu ist ze beinen mir geschehen, 
seit ich deinen tot muz sehen. 
aube der laiden merre ! 
wainen, clagen muz ich han, ^ 

sam der freude ni gewan, 
von meinez hertzen sweiTe. 
aube tot, 
diseu not 

maht du mir wol enden, 
wilt du von dir 
her zu mir 
deinnen poten senden. 

Three stanzas of the same construction follow, then John speaks 
one stanza, then Maiy and John continue the conversation through 
six stanzas of a different construction. The preparation for the 
walk to the sepulchre is announced by six Latin verses, and Mary's 
decision to visit the sepulchre is given in the words : 

Sed eamus et ad ejus 
properemus tumulum, 
si dileximus viventem,* 
diligamus mortuum. 



1 Hoffmann, vol. 2, p. 260. 2 Mone, p. 27 and p. 31. ^ See pp. 25, 33. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 25 

This leads us to the consideration of the songs, not lamentations, 
which sometimes contained the Easter Play in embryo, and some- 
times were introductory to it. Of the former we have this of the 
fourteenth centur^^ :' 

Duo pueri [maria magdalena] : 

Certe multis argumentis sudarium et vestes. 

vidi signa resurgentis. surrexit Christus spes mea, 

Chorus: prsecedet suos in Galiljea. 
Die nobis Maria-, [Cho7nis ;] 

quid vidisti in via ? Credendum est magis soli Marif© veraci 

Duo pueri [maria m.J :» qiiam Judaeorum turbae fallaci ; 

Sepiilchrum Christi viventis scimus Christum surrexisse 

et gloriam vidi resurgentis, ®^ mortuis vere ; 

angelicos testes, *^ ^o^i«' victor rex, miserere. 

Of the second the introductory songs in the plays below, given as 
Milchsack's fourth group,* will serve as examples. Our considera- 
tion of these lyrics may well close with Hoffman's ' Ludus de Nocte 
Pasche,' which I give in full, as showing what parts in the transition 
the Latin and vernacular tongues held respectively in these plays.* 

INCIPIT LXJDUS DE NOCTE PASCHE. 

Prima Maria cantat : 

Heu nobis internas mentes^ 
quanti pulsant gemitus 
pro nostro consolatore, 
quo privantur miseri, 
quem crudelis ludaeorum 
morti dedit populus. 
lam percusso heu pastore 
oves errant misere, 
sic magistro discedente 
turbantur discipuli 
atque nos absente eo 
dolor tenet nimius. 
Sed eamus et ad eiiis 
properemus tumulum. 
si dileximus viventem,'' 
diligamus et mortuum 
et \ingamus corpus eius 
oleo sanctissimo. 



1 Mone, p. 22. 

2 Compare (p. 36) with the Victimge Paschali Laudes of the York Missal. 

3 Almost all important MSS. of the liturgical drama are monastic MSS. (Les Mysteres, 
par L. Petit de JuUeville, p. 21, referring- to M. L. Gautier). Consequently, in those 
monasteries where women were not permitted to enter, the Maries were represented by 
boys. ■i See p. 32. •< Hoffmann, 2, 273. e See p. 33. 7 See pp. 34, 33. 

Trans. Conx. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 

3 



26 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Prima Maria dicit Rhythmum : 

Owe, owe der vil grimmigen liant 

Dill aller werlde heilant 

All daz kriuze hat gehangen. 

Er hat durch den nienschen die martel enjifangen: 

Owe ir iudeii, welch ein groz mort! 

Wie michel und tingehort 

Versteinet iuwer herzen sint! 

Ir hat gekriuzeget die muter als daz kint 

Secunda^ Maria dicit E : 

Owe! wie gar irreclichen ez stet 
Da daz vihe ane hirten get: 
Daz mac man wol beschouwen 
An nns drin armen vrouwen. 

Tertia Maria dicit : 

Swester, wir wellen vor dem tage 

Gen zu iinsers meisters grabe, 

Und bestrichen sine wiinden ahnitalle 

Mit tiurer guter salben. 

Ich han ein altgesprochen wort 

Von minen elterii dicke gehort, 

Daz dill triiiwe si allerbest _ - 

Die man nach dem tode leist. 

Wsere uns nu liep der lip sin, 

Des solden wir im tiin guten schin. * 

Et in momento procedentes ad sepulchrum, simul cantando Angelis . 
Sed eamiis iingnentiim emere, 
cum quo possimns unguere 
corpus doniini sacratiim. 
Quis revolvet nobis ab ostio lapidem,' 
quem tegere sanctum cernimus sepulchrum 1 

Tertia Maria dicit Rhythum : 

Wer will uns von diseme grabe 
Den stein heben herabe ? 
Daz got darumbe si sin Ion 
XJnde helf e in in den obersten tron. 

Tunc Angeli cantant : 
Quem quaeritis, o tremul* mulieres in hoc tumulo plorantes ?- 

Et primus Angehis dicit R : 

Wen sachet ir drl vrouwen 
Mit jamer uiide mit rouwen 
Also vru in diseme grabe 
An diseme osterlichen tage ? 

1 See p. 34. 2 See p. 34. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 27 

Marice siniiil cantant Angelis : 

lesuin Nazareniim crucifixum quaerimus. 

Tertia Maria dicit R : 

Wir suchen Jesum tinsern trost, 
Der iins von siinden hat erlost. 

Angeli siniul cantant : 
Non est hie quern quseritis, sed cito euntes nunciate discipulis eius et Petro 
quia surrexit lesus. 

Secundxis Angelus dicit R : 

Er enist niht hie, er ist uferstanden 
Und is zu Galilea gegangen: 
Daz saget slnen jungern unde Petro, 
Dai-umbe diu ganze werlde sol wesen vro. 

Et tunc Angeli simul cantant : 
Venite' et videte locum ubi positus erat doininus, alleluia alleluia! 
Sehet in daz grap 
Da got selber in lac. 
Er ist uferstanden 
Und ist zu Galilea gegangen. 

Tunc Marice recedendo simul cantant ;' 

Ad monumentum venimus gementes, 

angelos domini sedentes 

vidimus et dicentes 

quia surrexit lesus. 

Wir waren gegangen zu dem grabe. 

Da was der stein gehaben herabe. 

Do sprachen zwene engel klar 

Genzlichen viirwar: 

lesus ist erstanden 

Von des todes banden, 

Und sprachen: saget Petro und den jungern sin, 

Daz er von dem tode erstanden st. 

This drama continues with the incident of the Savior's appearing 
as the gardener' to Mary, and closes with the Victimae Paschali/ 

A most notable fusion of the Latin with the vernacular, in this 
case Proven9al, is given by Wright,* the 'Mysterium Fatuarum 
Virginum.' It is of the twelfth century probably, though judged 
by Raynouard to be of the eleventh. A comparison of the German 
and Proven9al plays will be profitable. Both begin in Latin. The 
important and stereotyped expressions in 'each are in Latin, and in 



1 See p. 37. i See p. 34. a See p. 36. * See p. 36. 

6 Wright, p. xiii and p. 57. 



28 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

each there is an attempt to translate such sentences for the people. 
Thus we have in the above, " Qnis revolvet nobis ab ostio," etc., 
followed by '* Wer wil uns von diseme grabe," etc.; "Quern quaer- 
itis," etc., with " Wen suchet ir drl vrouwen ;" while in the second 
in Christ's speech : 

Amen, dico, vos ignosco, 

Nam caretis lumine, 
Quod qui perdunt procul pergunt 

Hujus aulae limine. 

Alet, chaitivas! alet, malaureas! 
A tot jors niais vos so penas livreas, 
En enfern ora seret meneias. 

In the former there is a feeling that violent lamentation as lack- 
ing dignity, and speech of common things, can be expressed in the 
vulgar tongue; in the second the speech of inferior characters, in 
this case the merchants and Gabriel, is in the vernacular. 



yi. 

THE RISE OF THE RESURRECTION PLAY. 

We will now i-eturn to the liturgy and trace the Resurrection 
Play, but, as an aid toward the better comprehension of its intimate 
connection at first with the church service, I will cite somewhat in 
detail the Easter service* as given in the Alemajinic lit\;rgy in the 
service ' In die sacro Resurrectionis Dominicfe,' omitting the first 
part. 

Ad tertiiim psalmum induit se Levita, qui primam Evangelieum lectionem 
lecturus est, Stola & Dalmatica, & accedens ad analogium, in quo liber matuti- 
nalis est repositus, prpecedautque eum tres Conversi, unus portans incensum, 
alii duo candelabra, & stent iuxta eum. Deinde Diacouus jietat benedictionem 
dicens, hibe DGmne, & pronuntians Evangelium secundum Marcum dicens : 
Lectio S. Evangelii secundum Marcum. In illo tempore Maria Magdalena, 
cumque dixit, Et reliqua, tunc recedant Conversi ab eo, & incendant omnia 
lumina. Interim induant illi se, qui debent primum Responsorium cantare, 
cappis, & incensent principale Altare : venientes autem ad Fratres in sui^erior- 
ibus locis debent sedere usque in finem lectionis ; Tunc accipiant duo Conversi 
thuribiTla ad ipsis, & offerant incensum omnibus, qui sunt in utroque chore. 
Post lectionem incipiant Angelus Dominicum & Gloria. Similiter faciendum est 
ad secundam & tei'tiam lectionem atque Responsoria. Qui secundam lectionem 



1 Gerbertus, vol. 2, pp. 236, 237. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 29 

legit, debit remanere in sola Alba : Similiter qui tertiam legit, faciat, expepto 
Abbate, qui debet legere in cappa. Tertium vero Responsoi'ium cantent tres 
Cantores in cappis, quomm duo incensent Altare, ut supra scriptum est. 5 • Dwm 
transissent, quod post Gloria Patri reincipiendum est. Interim duo Sacerdotes 
se cappis induunt summentes duo thuribula, & humeraria in capita ponent, 
intrantes chorum, paulatim euntes versus sepulchrum, voce mediocri cantantes, 
Quis revolvet nobis lupiclem. Quos Diaconus, qui debet esse retro sepulcbrum, 
interroget psallendo, Quern quceritis, deinde illi, lesum Nazarenum. Quibus 
Diaconus respondet, Nan est hie, mox incensent sepulchrum,' & dicente Dia- 
cono, Ite, nuntiate, vertent se ad chorum remanentes super gradum, & cantent, 
Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro usque in finem. Finita antiphona Domnus 
Abbas incipiat Te Deum laudamus in medio ante Altare, moxque campanse 
sonentur in angularibus. Cum cantatur Per singulos dies sonentur omnia signa 
in choro. 

This was the service of the fourteenth century at St. Blasien in 
the Black Forest,'' Martene' gives an Easter service in which the 
actors at the sepulchre are increased to four: 

Quorum unus alba indutus acsi ad aliud agendum ingrediatur, atque latenter 
sepulchri locum adeat : ibique, manu tenens palmam quietus sedeat. 

This one personates the angel, while the remaining three represent 
the three Maries. 

The twenty-eight published Plays of the Resurrection Milchsack 
has exploited so successfully as to leave little work for a successor. 
He divides them according to development into four groups, of which 
we will consider in a somewhat condensed form the first and fourth. 

To the first-class five plays are assigned — 

A. Einsiedeln play of the twelfth century; 

B. Paris play of the eleventh century; 

C. St. Martial, Limoges, of the eleventh century, forming an 
introduction to the Mysterium' Fatuarum Vii-ginum; 

D. St. Blasien in Schwarzwalde, given above; 

E. Dunstanus, Concordia, published by Martene. 

These plays, omitting introductions, can be tabulated as follows:' 

1 Mone gives p. 8, a cut of the three Maries censing the sepulchre and the angel ; the 
sketch he found at the beginning of the Good Friday choirsongs in a MS. at Karlsruhe. 

2 Milchsack, p. 34, note.— Milchsack gives a full bibliography of the published Latin 
liturgical plays. 3 Milchsack, p. 38. 

i See p. 37. 6 Milchsack, p. 38. 



30 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



A. 


B. 


C. 


D. 


E. 


Einsiedeln I, 


Paris, 


St. Martial, 


St. Blasien, 


Martene, 


XII Cent. 


XI Cent. 


XI Cent. 


XIV Cent. 

Quis revolvet 
nobis lapidem 1 

qUOS DIACONUS, 


? Cent. 


>fGELUS dicit : 


[angeli :] 


[angelus :] 


qui debet esse retro 
sepulchrum, inter- 
roget psallendo : 
Quern quaeritis ? 





Quern quaeritis 
in sepulcbro, o 
cliristicolae ? 

MULIERES re- 
spondent : 



Jesum Nazare- 
num' crucifixum, 
o coelicola ! 

ANGELUS dicit : 

Non est hie, 
surrexit siciat 
praedixerat : 



Ite, nuntiate 
quia surrexit 
de sepulchre. 



[mulieres :] [mulieres :] deinde illi 
[mulieres :] 



Quo decantato 
fine tenus re- 
spondeant hi 

TRES [mulie- 
res] uno ore : 



coelicolae ! 
[angeli :] 



ccelicolfB ! 
[angelus :] 



Jesum Nazarenum ! 



Quihus DIACONUS 

respond et : 
Non est hie ! 



Quibus ILLE 



ipse dixit ; praedixerat : 

Mox incensent 
sepulchrum 
et dicente 
DIACONO : 

ite, nuntiate ite, nuntiate ite, nuntiate. 
quia surrexit discipulis 
eius quia 
prsecedet 
vos in 
Galilaeam. 



surrexit sieut 
praedixerat : 



ite, nuntiate 
quia sun-exit 
a mortuis. 



Cuius mis- 
sionis voce ver- 
f anise ILLI TRES 
ad Chorum di- 
centes ; Alle- 
luia ! Surrexit 
dominus ! 



A and B close here; C adds, " Vere surrexit dominus de sepulchre 
cum gloria. Alleluia !" In D the women return to the choir and 
there sing, "Surrexit," etc., and afterwards "Te Deum laudamus," 



1 Read ditto marks from left to right. 



2 See p. 27. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



31 



as given above/ In E the people are invited" to come and see the 
place where the Lord was laid. The sepulchre is found to contain 
grave clothes, which are taken out and shown to the clergy, who 
forthwith sing " Surrexit," etc. The linen is laid upon the altar, 
and the Prior begins " Te deum laudamus." 

An examination of these plays seems to lead irresistibly to one of 
two conclusions; either they spring from a common source in the 
liturgy, or they are copies, with modifications, of one original. The 
thi'ee possible sources in the Gospels are:' — 



Matth. 28. 5-7. 

5. Eespondens aiitem 
angeliis dixit mulieribus 
Nolite timere vos : &cio 
enim quod lesiim qui cru- 
cifixus est quceritis : 

6. Non est hie, surrexit 
enim sicut dixit : venite 
et videte locum ubi posi- 
tus erat dominus. 

7. Et cito euntes dicite 
discipulis eius quia sur- 
rexit, et ecce prcecedit vos 
in Galilceam : ibi eum 
videbitis. Ecce prsedixi 
vobis. 



Mark 16. 6-7. 

6. Qui [sc. angelus] dicit 
illis : Nolite expavescere : 
lesum quceritis Nazare- 
num erucifixum: surrexit, 
non est hie : ecce locus ubi 
posuerunt euni. 

7. Sed ite dicite disci- 
pulis eius et Petro quia 
prcecedit vos in Gcdilceam : 
ibi eum videbitis, sicut 
dixit vobis. 



Luke 24. 5-8. 

5. Cum timerent autem 
et declinarent vultum in 
terram, dixerunt ad illas : 
Quid quceritis viventeni 
cum mortuis? 

6. Non est hie, sed sur- 
rexit : recordamini quali- 
ter locutus est vobis, cum 
adhuc in Galilsea esset. 

7. Dicens quia oportet 
filium hominis tradi in 
manus hominum pecca- 
torum et crucifigi et die 
tertia resurgere. 



The question now arises as to what part of the service contained 
the germ of these earliest dramas. Mone' believes that they sprang 
from the responses and antiphons, as the most dramatic portion of 
the liturgy; Wilken,^ that they arose from the first part of the 
Victimpe Paschali with the Responsorium belonging thereto, in- 
fluenced, however, by the Gospel text. Milchsack,^ after a close 
analysis, bases all the plays upon Matthew and Mark. 1 do not 
know that it would betoken any unaccountable originality, if some 
priest, thoroughly familar with the Gospel passages and with the 
Victimae Paschali with its introductory verse and response, should 
have borne all in mind while shaping the Easter drama. If, as 
Milchsack' thinks, we have here actually the first step in the devel- 
opment of the drama, it is a sufiiciently serious departure from the 
ritual to imply conscious authorship rather than the slow, uncon- 
scious modification of an existing custom; and this, as it seems to 



1 See p. 29. 2 See p. 27. s Milchsack, p. 30. * Mone 1, 5. 

s Wilken, p. 68 ff. 6 Milchsack, p. 34. ^ Milchsack, p. 34. 



32 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

me, is an additional argument for the author's resting his invention 
upon all the recognized dramatic elements, suitable for his pixrpose, 
in the liturgy. Furthermore, this view is reinforced by the fact that 
the play did not have a fixed position in the Easter service, as it 
would have had if developed from one only of the elements of the 
service. Durandus says, as quoted by Milchsack :' 

Quidam etiam f aciunt [sc. reprpesentationem] ad missam, cum dicitur seqnentia 
ilia Victimcp paschali, cum dicitur versus Die nobis et sequentes. 

These five earliest plays, to which the one from Utrecht may be 
added, are found in Germany and France, and the question of 
independent derivation from the church service, or of a common 
source in some one earliest drama, becomes a matter of great inter- 
est. If, as Milchsack^ believes, they spring from the New Testa- 
ment directly, the fact that they rest upon Matthew and Mark, and 
none of them upon Luke, distinctively argues for a single author. 
When we consider the many methods of possible dramatic develop- 
ment of the common material, and note the evident agreement, it 
seems diflicult to dispute Milchsack's conclusion' that they sprang 
from one form, the work of one author. These remains are not of 
the same date. There is no lack of time within which the inmates 
of one cloister, proud of its author and play, could carry the drama 
in memory or in MS. in their visits to even distant cloisters. There 
is, apparently, no valid objection to the theory, however reasonable 
an independent development ma}^ seem to us. 



VII. 

THE DEVELOPED RESUERECTION PLAY. 

For comparison with the above plays we will take two plays of 
Milchsack's fourth group." Evidences that the redactor used Luke 
are present in these plays, which are the most elaborate of the Latin 
liturgical plaj^s of the resurrection. This group contains, according 
to Milchsack's classification, twelve plays. We will compare one of 
Germany found in a MS. of the thirteenth century, at Einsiedeln — 
the entire text is accompanied by music notes^ — and one of France 
found in the Orleans MS. of the thirteenth century.' 

1 Milchsack, p. 86. s Milchsack, p. 34. s Milchsack, p. 34. 

* Milchsack, p. 64. s Mone, vol. 1, pp. 15-19. s Wright, pp. 33-36. 



Charles Davidson— English Mystery Plays. 



33 



Einsiedeln, XIII century. 

IN RESURRECTIONE DOMINI. 



Ad visitandum dominicam sejoulturam. 
UNA DE MULIERIBUS cantet sola: 

Heu nobis, internas mentes' 

quanti ptilsant gemitus 

pro nostro consolatore, 

quo privamur miserae, 

quern crudelis ludaeorum 

morti dedit populus. 

ALTERA item sola : 
lam percusso ceu pastore, 
oves errant miserse : 
sic, magistro decedente, 
turbantur discipuli, 
atque nos, eo absente, 
dolor tenet nimius. 



MARIA MAGDALENA 

Sed eamus et ad eius 
properemus tumulum ; 
si dileximus viventem,'^ 
dillgamus mortuum. 



Orleans, XIII century. 
Ad faciendam similitudinem dominici 
sepulchri prhnum procedant tees fra- 
TRES, prcejjarati et vestiti in similitud- 
IKEU TRIUM MARIARUM, pedetentim et, 
quasi tristes altemantes, hos versus can- 
tantes : 

PRIMA earmn dicat : 
Heu ! pius pastor occidit, 
Quem culpa nulla inf ecit ! 
res plangenda ! 

SECUNDA • 

Heu ! verus pastor obiit, 
Qui vitam Sanctis contulit ! 
O mors lugenda ! 

TERTIA : 

Heu ! nequam gens Judaica ! 
Quam dira f rendens vesania ! 
Plebs execranda ! 

PRIMA : 

Cur nece pium impia 
Dampnasti Jhesum invida ? 
O ira nef anda ! 

SECUNDA : 

Quid iustus Lie promeruit 
Quod crucifigi debuit ? 
O gens dampnanda ! 

TERTIA : 

Heu, quid agamus, miserae, 
Dulci magistro orbatae ? 

Heu ! sors lacrymanda ! 

PRIMA ; 
Eamus ergo propere, 
Quod solum quimus facere, 
Mente devota. 

SECUNDA : 

Condimentis aromatum 
Ungamus corpus sanctissimum ; 
Quo pretiosa. 

TERTIA : 

Nardi vetet commixtio, 
Ne putrescat in tumido 
Caro beata. 



1 See p. 25. 



3 See p. 24. 



34 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



Einsiedeln, XIII century. 



Simul eantent [sc. mariae :] 

Quis revolvet nobis lapidem 
ab ostio momimenti ?' 



Orleans, XIII century. 

Cum autem venerint in chorutn, eant ad 
monumentum quasi qucerentes et can- 
tentes omnes [sc. mariae] simul hunc 
versum. Sed nequimus hoc jjatere sine 
adintorio ; qiiisnam saxum hoc revolvet 
ab monumenti ostio ? 
Quibus respondeat angelus, sedens foris 
ad caput sepulehri, vestitus alba deau- 
rata, mitra tectus caput, etsi deinfu- 
latus, palmam in sinistra, ramum 
candelarum plenum tenens in manu 
dextra, et dicat ynoderafa et admodum 
gravi voce : 

Quern quaeritis in sepiilchro, o 
christicolas ? 

MTJLIERES : 

Jesum Nazarenum ciiicifixum, o 
coelicola ! 

Quibus respondeat angelus : 
Quid, christicolse, viventem quaeritis 

cum mortuis ? 
Non est hie, sed surrexit, praedixit ut 

discipulis. 
M*ementote quid iam vobis locutus est 

Galilaea, 
Quod Christiani oportebat pati, atque 

die tertia 

Eesurgere cum gloria. 

MULiERES revertentes content ad chorum:^ mulieres conversce ad popnluni eantent : 

Ad monnmentum venimus gemeutes. Ad monumentum domini venimus ge- 

angelum domini sedentem vidimus et mentes, angelum dei sedentem vidimus 

dicentem quia surrexit Jhesus. et dicentem quod siirrexit a morte. 

Post hcec MARIA magdalena, relictis 
duabus aliis, accedat ad sepulchrum, in 
quod sa'pe aspiciens dicat : 
Heu ! dolor ! heu ! quam dira doloris an- 

gustia ! 
Quod dilecti sum orbata magistri pra?- 

sentia ; 
Heu ! quis coi*pus tarn dilectum sustulit 

e tumulo ? 

Deinde pergat velociter ad illos, qui in 
similitudine Petri et Johannis prcestare 
debent erecti, stansque ante eos quasi 



ANGELUS : 

Qtiem vos quern [quaeritis] 
flentes ?- 

MULIERES : 

Nos Jhesum Christum ! 
Item ANGELUS : 



Non est hie vere ! 



I See p. 26. 



! See p. 26. 



3 See p. 27. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 35 

Einsiedeln, XIII century. Orleans, XIII century. 

tristis, dicat [maria magdalena :] 

Tulemiit Dominum metim, 
Et nescio tibi posueitmt eum, 
Et momimentum vacuum est inventum, 
Et sudarium cum sindone repositum. 
Illi autem, hoc audientes, pergant ad 
sepulcrum ac si currentes, sed junior, 
sanetus lohannes, perveniens stet extra 
sepulchrum ; senior vera, sanetus Petrus, 
sequens eum, statlm intret ; postquam 
et lofiannes intret; cum inde exierint, 
lOHANNES dicat ; 
Miranda sunt, quae vidimus ! 
An furtim stiblatus est dominus. 

Cut PETRUS : 
Imo, ut praedixit vivus, 
Surrexit, credo, Dominus. 

JOHANNES : 

Sed cur liquit in sepulcro 
Sudarium cum linteo ? 

PETRUS : 
Ista, quia resurgent! 
Non erant necessaria, 
Imo resurrectionis 
Eestant hsec indicia. 
Illis autem abeuntibus, accedat maria 
ad sepulcrum et prius dicat : 
Heu ! dolor ! heu ! quam dira doloris 

augustia ! 
Quod dilecti sum orbata magistri pr<B- 

sentia ! 
Heu ! Quis corpus tam dilectum sustulit 

e tumulo ? 
Q^iam alloquantur duo angeli, sedentes 
infra sepulcrum, dicentes : 
Mulier, qtiid ploras ? 

MARIA : 
Quia tulerunt dominum meum, 
Et nescio ubi posuemnt eum. 

ANGELUS : 
Noli flere, Maria ; resurrexit dominus. 
Alleluia ! 

MARIA : 

Ardens est cor meum desiderio 
Videre dominum meum ; 
Qusero et non invenio 
Ubi posuerunt eum. 
Alleluia ! 



36 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Einsiedeln, XIII century. Orleans, XIII century. 

MULIERES, vertetites se adjjersonam Petri 
aposfoli, omnes cantent : 

En angeli aspectum vidimus 

et responsum eius atidivimus, 

qui testatur dominum vivere ; 

sic oportet te, Symon, credere. 

MARIA MAGDALENA sola cmxtet hos tres 

versus : 

Cum venissem ungere mortuum, 

monumentum inveni vacutim ; 

heu, nescio locum discernere, 

ubi possim magistrum quasrere. 

Dolor crescit, tremunt prascordia 
de magistri pii absentia, 
qui sanavit me plenam vitiis 
pulsis a me septem da3moniis. 

En lajjis est vere depositus, 
qui f uerat in signum posittis ; 
munierant locum militibus : 
locus vacat, illis absentibus. 

CHORUS : 
Una[autem] sabbati [Maria 

Magdalene venit mane, ciim adhuc * 

tenebrffi essent, ad 
monumentum, et vidit lapidem 
sublatum a montimento.] 

Mulieres reccui'rentes iteruvi ad sepid- 
tiiram nichil dicant. maria magda- 
LENA qucerendo circumquaque cantet : 
Victimse Paschali' etc. usque: Die 
nobis. 

DOMINICA PERSONA, subito MaricB Mag- Interitu veniat quidam praeparatus in 
dalena^ apparens, dicat :' similitudinem hortulani, stansque ad 

caput sepuh-hri dicat .-^ 
Mulier, quid ploras ''. quem quaeris ? Mulier, quid ploras ? quem quseris ? 

MARIA respondeat : maria : 

Domine, si tu sustulisti eum, dicito Domine, si tusustulisti eum, dicitomihi, 
michi, ubi posuisti eum, quod ego eum ubi posuisti eum. et ego eum toUam. 
toUam. Alleluia ! Alleluia ! 

DOMINICA persona iterum ad earn : Et ille : 

Maria ! Maria ! Maria ! Maria ! 

., J- t Ataue procidens ad pedes eius maria 

ILLA procidens dicat: ^ ^ ^ 

dicat : 
Eabbi ! (quod dicitur, Magister). Rabboni ! 

1 See p. 27. 2 See p. 27. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



ST 



Einsiedeln, XIII century. 
DOMINUS ab ea paulolum divertens dicat : 

Noli me tangere ; nondnm enim ascendi 
ad Patrem meum. Alleluia ! Alleluia ! 
DOMINICA PERSONA stans caiitet : 
Prima quidem sufEragia 
stola tulit carnalia, 
exhibendo communia 
se per naturae munia. 
MARIA adorcms in terra cantet : 
Sancte deus ! 

DOMINICA PERSONA : 

Hsec (est) priori dissimilis, 

hsec est incorruptibilis, 

quae dtim fuit passibilis, 

iam non erit solubilis. 

MARIA eodetn modo quo primus : 

Sancte fortis. 
DOMINUS iterum ibidem stans dicat : 

Ergo noli me tangere, 

nee ultra velis plangere, 

quern mox in puro sidere 

cemes ad patrem scandere. 
MARIA, lit supra : 
Sancte immoi'talis, miserere nobis ! 
Item DOMINUS ad eam : 

Nunc ignaros huius rei 

f I'atres certos reddes mei : 

Galilseam, die, ut eant, 

et me viventem videant. 



Orleans, XIII century. 
At ILLE subtrahat se, et quasi tactum 

eius devitans, dicat : 
Noli me tangere : nondum enim ascendi 
ad Patrem meum et Patrem vestmm, 
Dominum meum et Dominum vestrum. 



Sic discedat hortulanus, maria vero 

conversa ad popiilum dicat : 
Congratulamini michi omnes qui dili- 
gitis Dominum, quia quem qu^i-ebam 
apparuit michi et, dum flerem ad nionu- 
mentum , vidi D ominum meum . Alleluia ! 
Tunc DUO ANGELi cxeant ad ostium, 
sepulchri, ita ut appareant foris, et 
dicant : 

Venite' et videte locum, ubi positiis erat 
dominus. Alleluia ! 
Nolite timere vos ; 
Vultum tristem iam mutate, 
lesum vivum nuntiate, 
Galilaeam iam adite. 
Si placet videre, festinate. 
Cito euntes dicite discipulis, quod Sur- 
rexit Dominus. Alleluia ! 



1 See p. 27. 



38 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Einsiedeln, XIII century. Orleans, XIII century. 

MARIA, reliquis comitanfibus, ad cho- Tunc mulieres, discedentes a sepulehro, 

rum sola dicat : dicant ad plebem : 

Surrexit enim, sicut [dixit Dominus, Siirrexit Dominus de sepulchre, 

prsecedit vos in Galilaeam, alleluia ! ibi Qui pro nobis pependit in ligno. 
eum videbitis. Alleluia !j Alleluia ! 

CHORUS ad earn : 
Die nobis, Maria, [quid vidisti in via ?] 

IPSA ad chorum : 
Septdcbrum Cbristi cum r. [se. viventis 
et gloriam vidi resurgentis ;^ 
Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes ; 
Surrexit Christus spes mea, 
praecedet suos in Galilsea.] 

CHORUS : 
Credendum est [magis soli Mariae veraci, 
quam Iud?eorum turbte fallaci.] 
Scimus, Christum [stiri'exisse a mortuis 

vere ; 
tu nobis, victor rex, miserere I] 

Item CHORUS : 
Currebant duo simul [et ille alius disci- 
pulus prascucurrit citius Petro et venit 
primus ad monumentum]. 
Interea' cum viulieribus petrus et 
lOHANNES currant, et lohannes pra>- 

currens eocpectet Petrum, et nichil inven- Hoc facto, expandant [sc. mulieresJ sin- 
ientes revertantur melodiam cantantes : donem, dicenfes ad plebem : 

Ergo die ista exultemus, [qua nobis Cernite vos, soeii, sunt corporis ista 
viam vitae resurgens patefecit Jesus]. beati 

Astra, solum, mare [iocundentur et Linea, quse vacuo iacuere relicta sepul- 
cuncti gratulentur in coelis. Spiritales cro. 

ehori trinitati]. 

Postea ponant sindonem super altare, 
atque revertentes altement hos versus. 
PRIMA [sc. MARIA magdalena] dicat : 
Resurrexit hodie Deus Deorum ! 

SECUNDA [MARIA JACOBi] : 

Frustra signas lapidem, plebs ludse- 
oiiim. 

TERTIA [mARIA SALOMe] : 

lungere iam poimlo christianorum. 

Item PRIMA [maria magdalena] dicat : 
Resurrexit hodie rex angelorum. 

1 See p. 25. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



39 



Einsiedeln, XIII century. 



CHORUS alta voce : 
Te Deum laiidamus ! 



Orleans, XIII century. 

SECUNDA [mARIA JACOBI] : 

Ducitiir de tenebris turba piorum. 

TERTIA [MARIA SALOME] : 

Eeseratur aditiis regni ccelorum ! 

Interea is, qui ante fuit Hortulanus, 
in simililudinem Domini veniat dalniat- 
icatus Candida dahnatica, Candida in- 
fula infidatus, phylacteria pretiosa in 
capite, crucem cum labaro in dextra, 
textum auro paratorium in sinistra 
habens, et dicat mulieribus : 
Nolito timere vos : ito, ntinciate fratri- 
bus meis, ut eant in Galilaeam : ibi me 
Yidebunt, sicut praedixi eis. 

CHORUS : 
Alleluia, resurrexit hodie dominus ! 

Quo finito, dicant OMNES [marine] 

insimul : 

Leo fortis, Cbristus, filius dei ! 

Et CHORUS dicat : 
Te Deum laudamus ! 



We note the following extensions in E and O, as shown by com- 
parison with Gi'oup I : 



b. 



d. 

e. 
f. 



The song during the progress to the tomb. A song, but of very 
different character, introduces A only in Group I. 

Situation of replying angel in O, "foris ad caput sepulchri,'" 
while in T>, Group I, " debet esse retro sepulchrum." 

In O, " Why do you seek the living among the dead?" — an 
extension from Luke 24. 5. 

In O, the lines beginning, " Meraentote," etc. 

In E and O, the short song of the women. 

In O, the episode of Mary Magdalene's lamentation. 

In O, the running of Peter and John, their entering the tomb, 
and the discussion of the meaning of their discovery. Note 
that the running in E is out of place and lacks dramatic 
motive. 



1 The position is sigriiflcant. In Mont St. Michel it is 'super altare ;' in Rouen, 'ante 
sepulchrum;' in Sens, ' Puer, in vestitu angelico sedens super pulpitura a cornu altaris 
sinistro.' Therefore in these French plays is recorded the appearance of a stage or 
platform for the church play. 



40 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

h. In O, Mary's return and lamentation. 

i. In O, Mary's seeing the two angels in the tomb and their con- 
versation. 

j. In E, the turning of the women to Peter, and Mary's song in 
three stanzas. 

k. In E, the use of Victirage Paschali. 

1. In E and O, the appearance of the Savior to Mary. 

m. In E, the Savior's song. 

n. In O, the angel's invitation to view the sepulchre, the display 
of linen with, later, the placing of it upon the altar. 

o. In E, the use of the remainder of Victimce Paschali. 

p. In E, the running of Peter, John, and the women. 

q. The chorus in E, the part song in O. 

r. In O, the return of the Savior to speak to the audience, at 
which time he speaks the part assigned to the priest in 
Group I. 

s. In E and O, the close with the Te Deum. 

The redactor whose work we have in the Orleans play has sought 
additional material, portions of points f, g, i, and 1, which has 
greatly improved his play, in St. John, Chap. 20. The author of 
E has drawn but little from this, the most dramatic account of the 
incident ; he seems, however, to have found p in Luke [24. 12], 
which may account for its undramatic position in the play. 

A comparison of E and O reveals instantly certain characteristic 
differences. Peter and John's dialogue after entering the tomb, 
included in g, and Mary Magdalene's conversation with the angels, 
point i, are wholly lacking in E. The higher dramatic character of 
O is evident not only in points g and»i, since Mary's action in f and 
h is for dramatic effect. The part song in a, the use of the grave 
clothes in n, and the return of the Savior in r, all improve the dra- 
matic quality of the play. E as plainly shows a desire for Ijn-ical 
features. The song in a, e, and especially in j, together with the 
somewhat cumbersome device for using the two parts of the Vic- 
timae Paschali, sufficiently demonstrate the lyrical tendency. It 
may be added here that the other French plays of this group agree 
so closely with O as to argue a common origin, but the German, 
while not agreeing so closely with E, still show evidently the lyrical 
drift. 

This lyrical tendency becomes more evident if we compare E 
with the Ludus de Nocte Pasche,' into which the vernacular is 

1 See p. 25. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 41 

finding its way. The introductory song is the same, but extended 
in I, and repeated in part in the vulgar tongue. The two angels 
who greet the Maries in I are evidently an innovation to render it 
possible for one to sing in German the substance of the Latin pre- 
viously sung by the two. 

Furthermore, we note that E and 1 agree in omitting f, g, i, and 
1, of O. The divergence of the German plays from the French has 
evidently taken place, and we have followed the course of the Burial 
and Resurrection group until we have found the plays on an inde- 
pendent footing, shaping themselves in accordance with the national 
spirit, and admitting largely the language of the people. We will 
now turn to our second group, the plays that cluster about the 
infancy of Jesus. 



VIII. 
THE GENESIS OF CHRISTMAS. 

The development of the Christmas plays is so directly dependent 
upon the genesis of Christmas itself that we must glance once more 
at the customs of the early church. 

The Syrian Gnostics of the third century celebrated the union of 
God and man as taking place in Jesus at His baptism, which they 
placed on Jan. 6th.' The orthodox adopted this as the feast of bap- 
tism, or of the first appearance of the Godhead in man. St. 
Chrysostom mentions it in the fourth century as an ancient feast in 
Asia of the manifestation of Christ.^ This feast was celebrated in 
Vienna in 360 A. D., and passed into the western church as Christ's 
manifestation of Himself to the heathen world. 

The Feast of the Nativity on Dec. 25th was established in Rome 
after 350 A. D. by Bishop Liberius,' and in the East not earlier than 
376 A. D., since Chrysostom said in 386 A, D. that the feast had 
been known less than ten years. Whether, as Neander thinks, the 
feast was established in accordance with some apocryphal authority, 
or, as many think, to supply a counter-attraction to the Roman 
Saturnalia, may not be susceptible of proof. In any case it became 
heir to the customs of the Saturnalia, and continued them in 
unbroken tradition. 

In pagan Rome the Saturnalia, because of the confusion arising 
from the adoption of the Julian calendar, was extended by Augustus 



1 Wilken, p. 1. « Neander, vol. 3, p. 415. s Neander, vol. 3, p. 416. 

Trans. Conn. Acad.. Vol. IX. October, 1892. 

4 



42 Charles DamcUon— English Mystery Plays. 

to three days, but was often prolonged by the people to seven/ On 
these days presents were sent to friends, the children held holiday, 
and slaves had the privileges of freemen. 

The Roman church established the Nativity upon the Saturnalia, 
and within the following week the Feast of St. Stephen, Holy Inno- 
cents' Day, and Sunday within the Octave or the first Advent Sun- 
day, which answered to the Roman-heathen New Year, accepting 
from the Eastern church the feast of the sixth of January for the 
Adoration by the Magi. This made the whole time from Christmas 
day until the Octave of Epiphany, the seventh day after the sixth 
of January, a festival season. That in the minds of the people the 
pagan tradition was unbroken is proved by the charge of the Mani- 
chean Faustus' that the Christians celebrated the solstitia with the 
pagans, and by the complaint of Leo the Great that the Christians 
sti'll paid obeisance from some lofty eminence to the nsing.sun. 

These festivals passed directly into the church of France— which 
may, however, have received the feast of Epiphany from the Greeks 
—but the church of Germany was much slower in adopting them." 
Advent was not given among the holy times by the synod of Mainz 
in 813 A. D.,' aiui it seems certain that it was not generally recognized 
as a church festival until late in the ninth century. 

As a result of this later adoption of the religious festivities by the 
church of Germanv, we find an original diiference of custom in the 
French and Germ^an churches regarding Christmas, instead of that 
striking similarity exhibited by the Resurrection plays. With both 
the pl^ys sprano- from the same source, the church ritual, but they 
held from the first a diiferent relation to the church festival days, 
and recc-ived at an early date the stamp of the national life and 

customs. 

France, like Italy, probably enjoyed from the first.an uninterrupted 
succession ol the Roman comedy as performed by jugglers, mimes, and 
comic actors.^ The pagan festivities of the Saturnalia were, it would 

1 Neander, vol. 3, p. 419. 

2 Neander, vol. JJ, p. 4:iO, quotes Augustine 1. 20, c. Faustus. 

3 Neander, vol. 3, p. 420, quotes Leo, p. 26, c. 4. 

' rT"irsaid^tlmt Louis le Debonnaire (778-840) never langl.ed when thymelici, surri«, 
mimi came forward to amuse the people at iestivals.-Hase, 210. 

b Thomas Aquinas. Summa 11, 2, qu. 168, art. 3, as referred to by Hase, e.xpounds the 
office of a player as being servlc.able for the enliveument of men, and as not blame- 
worthy if tlie v)layers lead an upright life. t, „ ,^ 

c Sed forte perconteris : f ue. u..t-ne Sieculis barbaricis inter pubhcos Ludos Tragoe- 
dia;, aut saltern Comaniisu? Equidem in remotis S.ceulis nullum apertun, hujusce re, 
vesti-num hactenus otlendi. Post Sa-eulum vero a Christo nato Undecimum al.quid 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 43 

appear, transported to the colonies in France. At any rate the 
religious festivities of the holiday season in the Roman church were 
so closely copied in France as to argue a similar preparation through 
the existing customs of the peoj^le. The rural unformed comedy, 
continuing among the people simultaneously with these ecclesiastical 
festivities, naturally drew nearer to them as they became more 
dramatic in character, and imparted to them color and license 
wherever entrance could be obtained. This was the easier to accom- 
plish, since both were the expression of joy and gaiety. 

It becomes, therefore, less strange that the feast of St. Stephen, 
which was under the charge of the young deacons, or the Day of 
the Holy Innocents, which belonged to the choir boys, should more 
and more incline to the buffoonery of the holiday time until it 
became the reproach of the church. That these and the custom of 
the Boy Bishop and the Feast of the Ass were originally devotional 
in character, and that their degeneration took place through outside 
influences and in spite of the church, are easy to prove. In the 
Limoges ritual we find the Feast of the Innocents in the days of its 
innocence, and the Boy Bishop, when he first appears in the thir- 
teenth century Freising play of the Nativity,' is a very proper 
person. 

The course of development of the Feast of the Ass demonstrates 
from another side the intimate connection of all Mystery plays with 
the church services, and the impossibility of attributing the rise of 
every play to any one portion of the service. In the Middle Ages a 
reputed sermon of St. Augustine formed one of the lessons of 
Christmas.* It was not delivered as a sermon, but declaimed as a 
species of dramatic chant, and was very popular. It cited all the 
Old Testament witnesses to the coming of Christ, together with 
Virgil, the Sibyl, and such others as were believed to have foretold 
the Savior's advent. It was highly dramatic in form, summoning each 
witness to give his testimony ; thus it was but a step forward when 
persons differently habited gave the responses. This literary idea 
found epic expression in the Old English Elene^ as early as the ninth 
century, and dramatic form in The Prophets of Christ of the twelfth 
century, as appended to the Drama of the Foolish Virgins in the 



inveni ; quamquam in ea opinione sim, nunquam ita excidisse veterum Latinorum His- 

trionicam Artem, ut abolita prorsus fuerit apud Italos ejus memoria atque usus 

Arbitror etiam, aliquid inconditae Comcediae semper lulsse Italis Muratori Anti- 

quitates, vol. 2, col. 847. 

d. Julleville, les Comediens en France au Moyen Age, p. 17. 

1 Julleville, vol. 1, p. 43. 2 Julleville, vol. 1, p, 35. 3 Cynewulf s Elene, 1. 337 If. 



44 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Orleans MS.' Among these prophets Balaam is often introduced 
riding upon his ass, as in the Rouen ritual/ Since each prophet 
gave his testimony, it was easy, by adding adventitious circum- 
stances, to develop bis part into a separate scene, and what was more 
natural than for the ass to speak as in the Bible narrative ? Here 
comedy stepped in, and when the transition from scene tp inde- 
pendent play was made, as we see in the Daniel of Hilarius, of 
the twelfth century, and the Daniel of Beauvais, which joins the 
vernacular with the Latin tongue, the Feast named from the ass, 
now become more prominent than its rider Balaam, begins its 
unsacerdotal course, to the horror of the devout.^ 

We cannot tarry longer on this most interesting subject, except 
to note that these customs, transported to England by French 
ecclesiastics, either quickly lost or never acquired the reckless pro- 
fanity of the French customs. The moral sobriety of the English 
mind makes it averse to religious frivolity. The Boy Bishop 
became an illustrious example of the good boy;^ otherwise Dean 
Colet would hardly have required the boys of St. Paul's school' to 
attend the ministrations of the child bishop in St. Paul's.* 

As we turn now to Germany a very different situation unfolds 
itself. The pagan Roman beliefs never superseded the heathen 
beliefs of the Teutonic peoples. The early customs of all the fam- 
ilies of the Germanic race have proved wonderfully tenacious of life, 
and the church in Germany found itself obliged to tolerate much, 
though less in the South than in the North. 

During the centuries before the church of Germany adopted the 
church festival of Cliristmas, it had accustomed itself to the holiday 
festivities of the people. The Jul-fire burned in the homes of Ger- 
many, Sweden, and Norway like the Yule log in the English home. 
The Schimmelreiter, on his steed covered with white, a direct descend- 
ant of Wodan,' rode among the holiday makers, as did his kin of the 

1 Wright, p. 30. 

2 Du Cange, Festum Asinorura: Duo missi a Rege Balec dicant, Balaam, vent et fac. 
Tunc Balaam ornatus, sedens super asinam {hwc fetito nomen), habeas calcaria, reti- 
neat lora, et calcaribus percutiat asinam, et quidam juvenis, tenens gladium," obstet 
asina_^. Quidam sub asina dicat : Cur me calcaribus miscram sic hvditis f 

3 For the genesis of the 'sottie' and 'sermon joyeux' from the Fete des Fous, see 
Julleville, Les Comediens en France au Moyen Age, p. 32 ff. 

■i That he sometimes died young was proved by the discovery of the monument of a 
Boy Bishop at Salisbury.— Hone, 196. 

5 In the statutes of St. Paul's school, founded 1513, Dean Colet orders the scholars to 
" come to Paulis Churche and hear the Chylde-Byshop's sermon ; and after be at the 
hygh masse, and each of them otter a penny to the Chylde-Byshop."— Hone, p. 198. 

B The entire subject of comedy in the early Middle Ages, and its development in the 
church of France, demands an independent investigation. 

" Haupt's Zeitschrift, vol. 5, p. 473, art. Wodan, by Kuhn. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 45 

hobby-horse in the halls of old England. Many othei" customs 
derived from the old faith still held the hearts of the German peo- 
ple, and were incorporated into or modified the later celebration of 
Christmas. As one result of these customs, the church festivities 
naturally fell in with the holiday temper of the season, grew rapidly 
in popularity, and quickly passed more or less into the hands of the 
people. The Christ-child made the visits from house to house in 
company with Ruprecht, Fran Mary rocked his cradle in the drama, 
and Goodman Joseph lent a willing hand.' 

We cannot stop now to consider the Christmas songs and carols 
in their bearing upon the drama, or to trace the growth of folk- 
humor and de^'il-play within the dramas themselves, all of which 
bear testimony to the heartiness with which the common people 
adopted these holiday plays, and the extent to which they made 
them the vehicle of their own humor and the expi-ession of their 
rough, hearty good nature. After a similar fashion the York and 
Woodkirk plays of England embody the folk spirit of Yorkshire. 
A comparison of plays so kindred in spirit, but wholly unconnected 
in literary development, would prove an instructive study in racial 
characteristics. 



1 Thus in a play g-is'en by Weiuhold we read, p. 106: 



Ach Joseph lieber, Joseph mein, 
wiege mir das kleine Kindelein. 

JOSEPH : 

Kindla wiega, Kindlawie^a ! 

Ich koan nich meiine Finger biega ! 

Hunni sausi, 

der Kitsche thut der Bauch wih ! 

ALLE singen : 
Lasst. uns das Kindlein wiegen, 
das in dem Krippleiu thut liegen. 
O Jesulein siiss, o Jesulein siiss. 

Lasst uns das Kindlein speisen, 
Ihm grossen Dank ei-weisen. 

O Jesulein siiss, o Jesulein siiss. 
Gloria in excelsis Deo. 



46 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

IX. 
THE GROWTH OF THE CHRISTMAS CYCLE. 

We will now consider, but briefly, since the process of develop- 
ment is similar to that of the Resurrection plays, the growth of the 
dramas of the star or Magi, and that of the shepherds, within the 
liturgy of the church itself. 

In the tirst place we note that the signs of their presence are even 
less evident in the York Missal than were those of the Resurrection 
Plays, In the service for Epiphany, in the Sequence for the second 
day, appears the following : 

Thure Deum praedicant, auro regem magnum, hominem mortalem myrrha. 
In somnis hos monet angelus, ne recleant ad regem commotiim propter regna. 
Pavebat etenim nimium regem natum, verens amittere regni jura. 

For the third day : 

Magi sibi stella micante prapvia pergunt alacres itinera patriam qufe eos ducebant 

ad propriam ; linquentes Hei'odis mandata. 
Qui percussus corde nimia prae ira extemplo mandat infantium agmina inquiri 

Bethlehem per coufinia, et mox privari eos vita. ' 

These cannot, perhaps, be considered sure traces of the drama, 
but in the rubrics of MS. D. for Christmas occur these significant 
words, which are not found elsewhere in the Missal : 

Ad Missam in Gallicantu : — 

Paratus interim festive Decanus vel Prsecentor seu aliquis de majoribus personis 
procedat ad Altare cum suis Ministris eiiam festive indutis. Peractisque 
ibidem omnibus quae juxta tnorem. dicenda vel facienda sunt, incipiat Executor 
officii ad Altare Gloria in excelsis cum nota de angelis." 

In die Nativitatis Domini. Ad Magnam Missam. Interim Praelatus vel Decanus 
sive unus de majoribus dignitatibus cum suis Ministris exeat ad Altare. Et 
peractis omnibus ibidem, quae peragenda sunt, incipiat Sacerdos orationem.^ 

These comprise, I think, all the passages in the York Missal that 
have any bearing upon the plays. 

We have no means of determining how elaborate these dramas 
were to which the York Missal refers. As they were kept out of the 
Missal itself, it is probable that they were re-written, expanded, or 
otherwise changed, as the fancy of succeeding generations of 
monks might suggest. 

Of the continental plays several specimens are extant, and the 
literary relations in the Catholic church were, at that time, so close 
throughout the West, that the plays of one cathedral church did not 

I York Missal, p. 33. 2 York Missal, p. 14. 3 York Missal, p. 18. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 47 

differ essentially fi-om those of another. That we may see, how- 
ever, what this difference was, as well as learn something of the 
character of the plays themselves, I give three extended plays 
which include the Office of the Shepherds and that of the Magi. 

Of these plays, the first, the Rouen Play, still held its place in the 
service, and was, therefore, acted as two plays, the Office of the 
Shepherds falling on Christmas day, and that of the Magi on Epi- 
phany (Jan. 6th). The third, the Orleans Play, had passed out of 
the church, and was played " ad januas monasterii." It shows a 
fusion of the two plays, as does also that of Freising. The play is 
no longer a part of the church service ; therefore there is no proces- 
sion, as in the Rouen Play. The excision of the procession 
suggested a use for the separate play of the Magi ; it was inserted 
in the place of the procession. 

The Orleans Play affords us a view of a first step in cyclic for- 
mation. But this method of insertion could find but a limited field 
of operation, since the eai'liest plays did not dramatize some world- 
epic, thus affox'ding a framework for numberless insertions, but were 
illustrative of some single motive contained in the liturgy. 

How the Resurrection Cycle was joined to the Christmas Cycle, 
and how the resulting cycle of Christ's life was, through the aid- of 
the prophecies, extended back to the creation of the world, will be 
considered in the following chapters. 

Our concern, at present, is with the methods employed for com- 
bining the Play of the Shepherds with that of the Magi, i. e., with 
the formation of the Christmas Cycle itself. Here the Freising Play 
is of value as illustrating the uniform tradition throughout the 
churches, for it is certain that the Freising is not immediately 
derived from the Orleans, nor the Orleans from the Freising. 
Neither was the Freising play formed from the Rouen, though 
possibly the Orleans play may have been. 

These positions are suppoi'ted by many proofs. The most evi- 
dent, as regards the Freising, is the absence of the Adoration by the 
Shepherds. This shepherd episode in F would seem to point to an 
early liturgical form for model. The angel makes the announce- 
ment ; the shepherds say, Let us go ; the Magi meet them returning, 
and they announce that they have seen the child. The dramatic 
situation involved in the adoration is entirely omitted. This is the 
case also in the Nantes and Laon rituals. 

Elsewhere in the development of dramatic incident, F, R and O 
do not agree. In the first recognition of the star F agrees with R, 



48 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

and gives a more dramatic form than that of O, since in O the Third 
Magus is silent. This is one point in evidence that O, if derived 
from R, must be derived from an older form of R. The kiss of 
peace is found in O alone. The Herod episodes in F and O show 
such striking agreement in parts as to preclude the supposition of 
absolutely independent construction ; still there are such transposi- 
tions and developments of detail as render it equally incredible that 
either was taken directly from the other. 

It would carry me too far from the direct course of this investiga- 
tion to trace these developments to their sources, if, indeed, it 
would prove possible with the material extant. It may be profitable 
to state briefly the chai'acteristics here presented, and leave it for 
others to modify the statements through comparison with other plays.' 

1. The Herod play in F and in O is developed from a common 
original. 

2. The Herod play was introduced to supersede the procession, 
possibly because the play was taken out of the service in obedience 
to some reforming impulse, and played, like the Orleans i^laj^, "ad 
januas monasterii." 

3. Herod has already his conventional anger and brusqueness, but 
not his later bombast. 

4. The son's part is defined in O, and the action of the scribes in 
both F and O. 

5. F plainly points to the succeeding play of the Slaughter of the 
Innocents, yet strangely enough puts into the mouth of the soldier 
in " Discerne, domine," the words of the Interfectio Puerorum of the 
Orleans MS. instead of those of the Ordo Rachelis, though the Ordo 
Rachelis appears to belong to the same section as F. 

6. The King uses in all three plays, viz : F, Interfectio Puerorum, 
and Ordo Rachelis, the much-mentioned Sallust tag, " Incendium 
meum ruina extinguam." 

Many minor points of interest will be briefly indicated in the 
notes accompanying the plaj'^s. I cannot refrain, in passing, from 
the remark that an investigation confined to the steps of develop- 
ment and relationship among the early plaj^s of the Christmas time 
would probably yield rich results, if all the extant material were at 
command. 



1 Important agreements with F and O are shown by a play upon the same subject in 
Carmina Burana, Stuttgart, 1847; cp. Weiuhold, p. 57. 



THE ROUEN, FREISI]^G AND ORLEANS 
CHRISTMAS PLAYS.. 



50 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



Rouen,' XIV Century. 

Finito Te Deum laudamus, peragatur 
Offichim Pastorum hoc modo secundum 
Rothoinagensem usum. Prcesepe sit pa- 
ratum retro altare, et imago S. Marice 
sit in eo posita. In primis quid am 
PUER ante chorum in excelso in simili- 
tudineni Angeli Nativitatem Domini 
annuntians ad quinque Canonicos quin- 
decim marcharum et librarum, vel ad 
eorum vicarios de secunda sede, pas- 
tores intrantes, per magnum ostium 
chori, per medium chorutn transeuntes, 
tunicis et amictis indutos, hunc versum 
ita dicens : 

Nolite timere, ecce enim evangelize 
vobis gaudium magnum quod erit omni 
populo, quia natus est vobis hodie Sal- 
vator, qui est Christus Domini, in civi- 
tate David. Et hoc vobis signum : 
invenietis infantem pannis involutum, 
et positum in praesepio. 

Sint PLURES PUERi^ in voltis Ecclesice, 
quasi Angeli, qui alta voce incipiant : 
Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in ten'a pax 
hominibus bonse voluntatis. 



Freising," X Century. 



Ascendant rex et sedeat in solio,* au- 

diat sententiam^ querat 

consilium, exeat edictum ut pereani 
continuo qui detrahunt ejus imperio. 



ANGELUS^ inquit imprimis: 

Pastores, annuntio vobis gaudium mag- 
num, 

PASTORES : 

Transeamus Bethleem ut videamus hoc 
verbum. 

ANGELUS : 

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax 
hominibus bone voluntatis. 



Hcec audientes pastores, ad locum in 
quo paratum est prcesepe, accedant can- 
tantes hunc versum : 

Pax in terris,^ etc. 



Quod dum intraverint, DUO presbyteri^ 
dalmaticati de majori sede, quasi ob- 
stetrices, qui ad prcesepe fuerint, dicant: 
Quem quEeritis in praesepe, pastores ? 
Dicite. 

pastores'" respondeant : 
Salvatorem Christum Dominum ; 
Infantem pannis involutum, 
Secundum sermonem angelicum. 



i 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



51 



Orleans,^ XII Century. 

HERODES, SITE MAGORUM ADORATIO. 

Incipit orclo ad reprcesentandum Her- 

odem. 

Parato Herode et cceteris personis,* tunc 

QUiDAM ANGELtrs cum multitudine in 

excelsis appareat. 



1 From Du Cange—Pcu^torum Offlcium— 
amplified from Weinhold and Du Meril. 

2 From Weinhold and Du Meril. 

3 From Wright, p. 23. 

* See discussion of manner of presenta- 
tion. 
5 In many places illegible. 



Quo viso PASTORES pevterriti, salutem 
annunciet eis, de cceteris adhxic tacen- 
tibus : 

Nolite timere vos, ecce enim euvange- 
lizo vobis gaudium magnum, quod erit 
omni populo, quia natus nobis hodie 
Salvator Mundi, in civitate David, et 
hoc vobis signum : invenietis infantem 
pannis involutum et positum in prae- 
sepio, in medio duum animalium. 

Et subito OMNis MULTiTUDo" ciim An- 
gela dieat: 

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax 
hominibus bonfe voluntatis. Alleluia ! 
Alleluia ! 

Tunc demum surgentes cantent intra se: 
Transeamus, etc., et sic procedant 
usque ad prcesepe,' quod ad januas 
monasterii paratum erit: 
Transeamus usque Bethleem, ut videa- 
mus hoc Verbum quod factum est, quod 
fecit Dominus et ostendit nobis. 



6 The original actors were boys, as per R. 



' In O, cradle at the monastery gate ; In 
R, behind the altar. 

s The five stanzas are given by Du Meril, 
p. 146. 



Tunc nvM mulieres^ custodientes prce- 
sepe interrogent pastores, dicentes : 

Quern quieritis, pastoi'es, dicite ? 



9 Presbyters personated women. At Nan- 
tes the Cantor asks the question ; at Laon 
the Cantor and Subcantor. 



pastores'" respondeant : 
Salvatorem Christum dominum ; 
Infantum pannis involtitum. 
Secundum sermouem angelicum. 



10 Priests at Laon, boys at Nantes, who 
use the words in which the shepherds reply 
to the Magi in F. The adoration is omitted 
at Laon and Nantes. 



52 



Charles Davidson— English Mystery Plays. 



Bouen, XIV Century. 
Item OBSTETBICES cortinam ax>erientes, 
Puerum demonstrent, dicentes : 
Adest hie parviilus cum Maria matre 
sua, de qua dudum vaticinando Isaias 
dixerat propneta. 

Hie ostendant rnatrem^ pueri, dicentes : 
Ecce Virgo concipiet et pariet^filium, 
et nunc euntes dicite quia natus est. 
Txme, eo visa, inclinatis cervicibus ador- 
ent Puerum, et salutent, dicentes : 
Salve Virgo- singularis,^ etc. 
Deinde vertant se ad chorum redeuntes. 
et dicentes :* 

Alleluia, Alleluia, jam vere scimus 
Christum natum in terris : de quo 
canite omnes, cum Propheta dicentes. 
Hoc finito, incipiatur Missa,^ et pas- 
tores regant chorum. Dom. Archie- 
piscopus, si prcesens fuerit, cantet Mis- 
sam. 

This ends the Eouen Pastorum Offi- 
cium for Christmas. 
Officium Begum Trium, secundum usum 
Rotomag. Die Epiphanice, Tertia can- 
tata, tres de majori, sede more Regum 
induti, et debent esse scripti in tabula. 
Ex tribus partibus ante altare conven- 
iant cum suis famulis portantibus Re- 
gum oblationes, induti tunicis et amictis. 
Et debent esse de secunda sede scripti in 
tabula ad placitum scriptoris. Ex tri- 
bus Regibus medius ab oriente veniens, 
stellam cum baculo ostendens, dicat alte : 
Stella fulgore nimio rutilat. 
secundtjs rex a dextrai)arte resj)ondeat: 
Quae Eegem Regum natum demonstrat. 
TERTITJS REX a sinistra parte dicat : 



Freising, X Century. 



MAGUS PRIMUS : 

Stella fulgore nimio rutilat. 

SECUNDUS : 

Que regem regum natum monstrat. 

TERTIUS 



Quem venturum olim prophetiae signa- Quem venturum olim prophetic signa- 
verant. verant. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



53 



Orleans, XII Century. 

MULIERES : 

Adest parvulus, cum Maria matre ejtis, 
de quo dudum vaticinando Ysaias pro- 
pheta dixerat : Ecce virgo concipiet et 
pariet filium. 



1 The image of Mary, a special develop- 
ment of R. 



Tunc PASTORES procedentes adorent in- 
fantem dicentes : 
Salve rex saeculorum ! 
Postea surgentes invitent ijopidum, cir- 
cumstantes, ad adorandum infantem, 
dicentes turbis vicinis :'' 
Venite, venite, adoremiis Dominum, 
quia ipse est Salvator noster. 



2 Note the greater prominence given to 
the Virgin in R. 

3 The two stanzas are given by Dii Meril, 
p. 150. 

■1 Note that the closing of R at this point 
leads to an important \-ariation. 

^ These words prove that the Office of 
the Shepherds immediately preceded the 
Mass of the Day, for which the Introit was 
Isaiah 9. 6.— Du Meril, p. 150. 



Interim magi, prodeuntes^ quisque de 
angulo siio, quasi de regione sua, con- 
veniant ante altare, vel ad ortum stellcs, 
et dum appropinquant primus dicat : 
Stella fulgore nimis rtitilat. 

SECUNDUS : 

Quern venturum dim propheta signa- 

verat. 

Tunc stantes coUaterales, dicat dexter 

ad medium : Pax tibi f rater ; et ille 

respondeat : Pax quoque tibi ; et oscu- 

lentiir sese : sic medius ad sinistrum, sic 

sinister ad dextrum. Salutatio cuique. 

dexter ad medium : 
Pax tibi, f rater ! 



" In O, the people are watching the cra- 
dle when the Magi enter unobserved. The 
Limoges ritual introduces them with pomp. 



54 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Rouen, XIV Century. Freising, X Century. 



Tune MAGI ante altare sese osculentiir, 

et simul cantent : 

Eamus^ ergo, et inquiramtis eum, offer- 

entes ei munera ; aurum, thus, et 

mirrham. 

Hoc finito, CANTOR incipiat Responso- 

rium : 

Magi veniimt,- etc. 

Et moveat processio.^ 
Versus : 

Cum natus esset Jesus in Bethleem 
JudfE, in diebus Herodis regis, eece 
Magi ab Oriente venerunt Jerosolymam, 
dicentes : Ubi est qui natus est ? Cujus 
stellam vidimus, et venimus adorare 
Dominum. 
Sequatur aliud Responsorium, si nec- 

esse fuerit : 
Interrogabat Magos,* etc. 



SIMUL cantent : 
Eamus' ergo et inquiramus eum, offer- 
entes ei munera ; aurum, thus, et 
mirram. 



Dic^te-^ nobis, Hierosolymitani cives, 
ubi est exsjjectatio gentium, noviter 
natus rex Judeorum, quern signis celes- 
tibus agnitum venimus adorare ? 



INTERNUNCIUS^ cu7^ens : 
Salve, rex Judeorum ! 



REX: 

Quid rumoris affers ? 

INTERNUNCIUS :^ 

Assunt nobis, domine, tres viri ignoti 
Processio in navi Ecclesice const ituta, ab oriente venientes, noviter natum 
slationem faciat. regem quendam querentes. 

REX : 

Que sit causa vere, jamjam citus, im- 
^ pero, quere. 

INTERNUNCIUS ad Magos : 
Que rerum novitas aut que vos' causa 

subegit 
Ignotas temptare vias ? quo tenditis 

ergo ? 
Quod genus ? unde domo ? pacemne hue 
fertis an arma ? 

MAGI : 

Chaldei sumus, pacem ferimus, 
Eegem regum querimus, 
Queni natum esse stella indicat 
Que fulgore ceteris clarior nitilat. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



55 



Orleans, XII Century. 

Responsio cujusque : 
Pax quoque tibi ! 

Tunc ostendant sibi mutuo [stellaTn] ; 
Ecce stella ! ecce stella ! ecce stella ! 

Procedente autem stella, sequentur IPSI 
prcecedentem stellam dicentes : 
Eamus' ergo et inqiiiramus eum, offer- 
entes ei munera, aurum, thus, et myr- 
rham, quia scriptum didicimus : Ador- 
abunt eum omnes reges, omnes gentes 
servient ei. 

Venientes ad ostium chori, interrogent 
astantes : 



1 Also at Limoges. 



Dicite^ nobis, O lerosolimitani cives, 
ubi est expectatio gentium, ubi est qui 
natus est rex Judaeorum, quern signis 
coelestibus agnitum venimus adorare ? 



2 Given in full by Du Meril, p. 154. 

3 F and O insert Herod episode, R the 
procession. At Limoges the masi lay down 
their presents and go to the offering. 



Quibus visis, Herodes mittat ad eos 

ARMiGERUM, qiii dicat : 
Quae reram novitas aut quae vos causa 

subegit 
Ignotas temptare vias ? quo tenditis 

ergo ? 
Quod genus ? imde domo ? pacemne 

hue fertis an arma ? 



* Given by Du Meril, p. 154. 

5 F informs the king by a messenger of 
the appi'oach of the magi ; O allows Herod 
to perceive it for himself. 

6 Authors seem to disagree as to position 
of this. Probably the position in O is the 
original one. 



7 Lines illegible, partly supplied from O. 



MAGI : 

Chaldfei sumus ; paceni ferimus ; 
Regem regum quaerimus, 
Quern natum esse stella indicat, 
Quae fulgore caeteris clarior rutilat. 



56 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Rouen, XIV Century. Freising, X Century. 

INTEKNUNCIUS ad rerjem : 
Vive rex in aeterniim : 

REX :' 
Quid . . . habesque . . . nunti 



INTERNUNTIUS : 

Rex mir . . . regis . . . 

. . . vocemus ut eoruui sermones au . . . 

INTERNUNTIUS ad Magos : 
Regia vos mandata vocaut, non segniter 
ite. 

ad regem : 
En Magi veniunt et regem regum natum, 
Stella duce, requirunt. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



57 



Orleans, XII Century. 
AEMiGER reversus salutat regem ; flexo 

genu cheat : 
Vivat rex in aeternixm ! 

HERODES : 

Salvet te gratia inea ! 

ARMIGER : 

Adsunt nobis, Dornine, tres vii'i ignoti, 
ab oriente venientes, novum natum 
^quemdam regem qiiseritantes. 

Tunc mittat herodes oratores vel inter- 

pretes suos ad magos, dicens : 

Lseti inquisitores, qui sunt inquirite 

reges, 
Affore quos nostris jam fama revolvit 

in oris. 

INTERPRETES ad Magos : 
Principis edictu, reges, praescire veni- 

mus 
Quo sit profectus hie vester et unde 

prof ectus ? 

MAGI : 

Eegem qunesitum, duce stella signifi- 

catum, 
Munere proviso, properamus eum ven- 

erando. 

ORATORES, reversi ad Herodem : 
Eeges sunt Arabum ; cum trino munere 

natum 

Qucertint infantem, quern monstrant 

sidera regem. 

HERODES, mittens Armigerum pro 

Magis : 

Ante venire jube, qixo possim singula 

scire. 
Qui sunt ? cur veniant ? quo nos ru- 
more requirant ? 

ARMIGER : 

Qtio mandas citius, rex indite, profi- 
cietiir. 

ARMIGER ad Magos : 
Eegia vos maudata vocant, uon segniter 

ite. 
ARMIGER, adducens Magos ad Herodem : 
En Magi veniunt, et regem natum, 
stella duce, requirunt. 

Trans. Coxn. Acad., Yol. IX. 



1 The normal form of this episode prob- 
ably differs from both of these. The num- 
ber of actors appears to have confused the 
authors. 



October, 1802. 



58 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Rouen, XIV Century. Freising, X Century. 

REX ad intermmtiuin : 
Ante venire jube, quo possim singula 
scire, qui sint, cur veniant, quo nos ru- 
more requirant . . . iude . . . aut . . . 
die . . . suavis ex . . . 

REX ad Magum piHmum : 
Tu mihi responde stans primus in 
ordine, fari ! 

Respondeat primus : 
Impero Chaldeis dominans rex omnibus 
iUis. 

Ad Secundum : 
Tu, autem, unde es ? 

Respondeat secundus : 

Tharsensis regie me rege . . . Zoroastro. 

Ad Tertium : 

Tute .... unde es ? 

Respondeat tertius : 

Me Arabes, mihi parent usque 

fideles. 

rex: 

Eegem, qiiem queritis, natum esse, quo 

signo didicistis ? 

Respondeant : 

Ilium natum esse didicimus in oriente ; 

Stella monstravit. 

rex: 

Ex quo ilium regnare creditis, dicite 

nobis. 

Nunc res2)ondeant : 

Hunc regnare fatentes, ciim mysticis 

muneribus 

de terra longinqua adorare venimus. 

PRIMUS :^ 
Auro regem. 

secundus : 
Thure deum. 

tertius : 
Mirra mortalem. 



REX ad milites : 
Vos mei sinistri, accite disertos pagina 
scribas prophetica. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 59 

Orleans, XII Century. 



HERODES, ad Magos : 
Quas sit causa vise ? qui vos ? vel unde 

venitis ? 
Dicite. 

MAGI : 

Eex est causa vise ; reges sumus ex 

Arabitis ; 
Hue quaerimus Eegem regnantibus im- 

peri tan tern, 
Quern natum mundo lactat Judaica 

virgo. 

HERODES : 

Regem quem queeritis natum esse quo 
signo didicistis ? 



MAGI : 

Ilium regnare fatentes, 
Cum mysticis muneribus 
De terra longinqua adorare venimus 
Temum Deum venerantes tribus cum 
muneribus. 

Tunc ostenclant munem ; primus' dicat: ' At Limoges given in song with action 
Auro regem while advancing through the choir, before 

the star has been seen. 

SECUNDUS : 

Thure Deum. 

TERTIUS : 

Myrrha mortalem. 

Tunc HERODES itnperat sinistris qui cu^n 
eo sedent in habitu juvenili, ut addu- 
cant Scribas qui in diversorio parati sunt 
barbati : 

Vos, met sinistri, 

Legisperitos ascite, 

Ut discant in prophetis 

Quod sentiant ex his. 



60 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



Rouen, XIV Century. 



Freising, X Century. 



MILES ad scribas : 
Vos legis jjeriti/ 
ad regein vocati, 
cum prophetarum libris 
properando venite. 

REX, ad scribas : 
vos scribe, 
interrogati dicite, 
si quid de hoc puero 
scriptum habetis in libro. 



Respondeant scribe : 
Vidimus domine in prophetarixm libris, 
nasci Christum in Bethlehem civitate, 
DaAad propheta sic vatieinante. 

Antiphona Bethlehem. 

REX^ ad scribas : 
. . . finem spectat prudentia rerum ? 
Vadite cum vestris . . . estis ! 
et projiciat libi'um. 



REX ad proccres : 
Consilium nobis, Proceres, date laudis, 
honoris 

ARMIGER^ ad regein : 
Audi que facias, rex, audi pauca sed 

apta ! mox des dona Magis, ne 

morari, ut noviter nato quern qiieiimt 
rege reperto, rex, per te redeant ut te 
ipse scias quod adores. 

REX ad armigerum : 
Abduc externos citius, vasalle, tjTannos. 

ARUiGEn ad inagos : 
Regia vos mandata vocant. 



Charles Davidson — En(fUsh Mystery Plays. 61 

Orleans, XII Century. 
SINISTRI ad Scribas, et adducant eos 
cum libris prophetarwm : 
Vos, legisperiti,' i This incident seems to have been exactly 

Ad regem vocati, copied from one original. 

Ctim prophetarum libris 
Properando venite. 
Postea HERODBS interroget Scribas, 
dicens : 
O vos, scribse, 
Interrogati dicite, 
Si quid de hoc puero 
Scriptum videritis in libro. 

Tunc SCRIBE dill revolvant librum, et 
tandem inventa quasi prophetica, dicant: 
Vidimus, Domine, etc., et ostendentes 
cum digitoregiincredulo tradant librum : 

Vidimus, Domine, in prophetarum 
Lineis, nasci Christum 
In Bethleem Judte civitate, 
David propheta sic vaticinante. 
Chorus. Bethleem non est minima, etc. 

Tunc HERODES,^ visa prophetica, furore ^^ ^, . . ^. . ^, 

' ' 2 Here there is variation again. The wrath 

accensus, projiciat librum; et filius is the same, but the wording is different. 
ejus, audito tumultu, procedat pacifica- 
turus patrem, et stans salutet eum : 

Salve, pater indite. 

Salve, rex egregie. 

Qui ubique imperas, 

Sceptra tenens regia. 

HERODES. 

Fili amantissime, s The soldier in F gives the advice upon 

Dio'ne laudis munere which the king- acts ; in O he acts without 

T T ■ advice. The introduction of the son seems 

Laudis pompam regiae ^ , , , ,, 

^ ^ ° to have led the author astray. 

Tuo gerens nomine. 

Rex est natus f ortior. 
Nobis [que] potentior ; 
Vereor ne solio 
Nos extrahet regio. 

Tunc FILIUS despective loquens, afferat 
se ad vindictam, dicens : 

Contra ilium regulum. 

Contra natum parvulum, 

Jube, pater, filium 

Hoc inire prielium. 
Tunc demum dimiftat herodes Magos 
ut inquirant de puero, et coram eis 
spondeat regi nato, dicens : 



62 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



Rouen, XIV Century. 
Dicm autem processio navein Ecclesice in- 
trare cceperit, corona ante crucem pendens 
in modu-m stellai accendatur, et magi 
steUam ostendentes, ad imaginem sancto' 
Marice super altare crucis prius j)ositam 
cantantes pergant : 



Ecce Stella in Oriente praevisa' 
itenim prsecedit nos Iticida,- etc. 



Freising, X Century. 



Ite, et de puero diligenter investigate, 
et, invento, redeuntes mihi renunciate, 
ut ego veniens adorem eum. 

MAGI aspicientes stellam canant : 
Ecce Stella in oriente prtevisa' 
iterum prsecedit nos hicida. 



MAGi^ ad pastores : 
Pastores, dicite, quidam vidistis ? 

PASTORES : 

Tnfantem vidinins pannis involutnm. 



Hoc finite, DUO^ de majori sede cum Dal- 
maticis et utraque altaris parte stantes, 
suaviter respondeant : 
Qui sunt hi qui, stella duce, nos adeun- 
tes inaudita ferunt ? 

MAGi^ dieunt : 
Nos sumus, quos cernitis, reges Tharsis 
et Arabum et Sabae, dona ferentes 
Cbristo regi nato, domino, quern, stella 
deducente, adorare venimus. 



ANGELUS :^ 

Qui sunt hi qui stella duce, nos adeun- 
tes inaudita feiaiiat ? 

MAGi'^' respondeant : 
Nos sumus, quos cernitis, reges Tharsis 
et Arabum et Sabae, dona ferentes 
Christo nato, regi domino, quem, stella 
duce, adorare venimus. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



63 



1 Here the procession and Herod episode 
closing, the three plays agree again. 

2 Given in full by Du Meril, p. 155. 



3 In O the shepherds have an appropriate 
Introduction, in F none. 



Orleans, XII Century. 

Ite, at de puero diligeuter investigate, 
Et invento, redeuntes michi renunciate, 
Ut ego veuiens adorem eum. 

Magis egredientibus, prcecedat stella eos, 
quce nondum in conspectu Herodis appa- 
ruit, quani ipsi sibi mutuo ostendentes, 
procedant. Qua visa Herodes et filius 
minentur cum glad lis. 

Ecce ! Stella in oriente praevisa' 

Iterum prsecedit nos lucida. 
Interim pastores, redeuntes a prcesejie, 
veniant gaudentes et cantantes in eundo. 
regem coeli ! 

Ad quos MAGI :^ 
Quern vidistis ? 

PASTORES : 
Secundum quod dictum est nobis ab 
angelo de puero isto, invenimus infan- 
tem pannis involutum et positiim in 
prsesepio, in medio duum animalium. 

Postea, pastoribus abeuntibus,"^ magi 

procedant post stellam usque ad prce- 

sepe, cantantes : 

Quae non prasvalent propria magnitudine, 

Coelum, teiTa, atque maria lata capere, 

De virgineo uatus utero, 

Ponitiir in praesepio, 

Sermo cecinit qtiem vatidicus : 

Stat simul bos et asiniis. 

Sed oritur stella lucida 

Praebitum Domino obsequia, 

Quem Balaam ex Judaica 

Nasciturum dixerat prosapia. 

Haec nostroruin oculos fulguranti lu- 

mine perstrinxit lucida, 
Et nos ipsos provide ducens ad cuna- 

bula resplendeus fulgida. 

Tunc OBSTETRICES^ videntes, Magos allo- 
quantur : 
Qui sunt hit qui, steUa duce, 
Nos adeuntes inaudita ferunt ? ' 

MAGI :*' 6 These lines would seem to argue a com 

Nos sumus quos ceruitis reges Tbarsis mon dramatic origin, 
et Arabum et Saba, dona ferentes 
Christo nato, regi Domino, quem, stella 
ducente, adorare venimus. 



* The introduction of this song is one of 
many proofs of the higher artistic finish 
of O. 



5 Presbyters, evidently. 



64 



Charles Davidson — English 3Iystery Plays. 



Rouen, XIV Century. 



Freising, X Century. 



Tunc DUO DALMATIC ATI cipcrientes corti- 

nam, dicant : obstetrices : 

Ecce, puer adest quern quaeritis. Jam Ecce, puer adest quern queritis. Jam 
properate adorare, quia ipse est redemp- properate et orate quia ipse est redemp- 
tio mundi. tic mundi. 

Tunc procidentes reges ad terram simul, 

salutent puerum, ita dicentes : Intrantes magi : 

Salve Princeps sseculorum. Salve priuceps seciilorum. 

Tunc UNUS a suo famulo aurum acci- 
piat, et dicat : 



Suscipe, rex, aurum. 

SECUNDUS Kex ita dicat, et offerat : 
Telle thus, tu vere deus ! 

TERTitrs ita dicat, et offerat : 
Myrrham, signum sepulturae. 

Interim fiant oblationes a clero et pop- 
ulo, et dividatur ablatio prcedictis 
Canonicis. 

Tunc Magis orantibus, et quasi somno 

sopitis, QUIDAM PUER alba indutus, et 

quasi Angelus, in pulpito^ illis dicat 

hanc antiphonam : 

Impleta sunt omnia qufe Prophetice 

dicta sunt. Ite ab viam remeantes 

aliam ne delatores tanti regis puniendi 

eritis.* 

Hoc finito, CANTOR incipiat ad introitum 

Cliori responsorium : 
Tria sunt munera.^ 

Versus.'' Salutis nostrae auctor. 

Ad Missam tres Reges Chorum regant, 

qui festive content : 
Kyrie Fons bonitatis, Alleluija. 
Sanctus, et Agnus. 

Officium,: 
Ecce advenit. 



PRIMUS :** 
Suscipe, rex, auniin ! 

SECUNDUS : 

Telle thus, tu vere deus ! 

TERTIUS : 

Mirram, signum sepulture. 



ANGELUS ad jjrostratos magos : 
Impleta sunt omnia que prophetice 
dicta sunt. Ite, viam remeantes aliam, 
ne delatores tanti regis puniendi sitis. 

MAGI redeuntes antiphonam canant; 
regem celi.*" 



INTERNUNCIUS : 

In asternum vive domine ! 
Magi viam redienmt aliam. 

REX prosiliens : 
Incendium meum ruina extinguam !^ 

ARMIGER : 

Diseerne,' domine, vindicare iram tuam 
et stricto mucrene querere jube pueros ; 
forte inter occisos occidetur et puer. 
REX gladium versans armigero reddit 

dicens : 
Armiger eximie, pueros fac ense pe- 
rire ! 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 
Orleans, XII Century. 



65 



OBSTETRICES ostencleiites puerum : 
Ecce, puer adest quern quseritis. Jam 
properate et adorate, quia ipse est 
redemptio mundi. 



MAGI : 
Salve, rex saeculorum !' 
Salve, Deus Deomm ! 
Salve, salus mortuorum ! 
Tunc procedentes magi, adorent Puerum 
et afferent. 

PRIMUS- dicat : 
Suscipe, rex, aurum, regis signum. 

SECUNDUS : 
Suscipe myi'rliam, signiim sepulturae. 
TERTIUS : 

Suscipe thus, tu vere Deus. 

Istis factis, Magi ineipiant dormire ibi 
ante prcesepe, donee angelus desuper 
apparens, moneat in somnis ut redeant 
- in regionem suam per aliain viam : 

Impleta sunt omnia qufe prophetice 
scripta sunt. Ite viam remeantes aliam, 
nee delatores tanti regis puniendi eritis. 

MAGI evigilantes : 
Deo gratias ! surgamus ergo, visione 
moniti angelica et, calle mutato, lateant 
Herodem quae vidimus de ptiero. 
Tunc MAGI abeuntes per aliam viam, , 
non vidente Herode, cantent : 
admirabile commercium ! 
Creator omnium. 

T^mc venientes choro, dicent : 
Gaudete, fratres, 
Christus nobis natus est, 
Deus homo factvis est ! 

Tunc CANTOR incipit : 
Te Deum, etc. 



1 Another proof of artistic superiority in 



O. 



2 An episode common in earler ritualistic 
plays, probably the invention of one author 
there. 



3 A platform necessary as in Sens resur- 
rection play, p. 67. 



* Note.— Then the three kings go through 
the side aisles out of the church and reenter 
by the left door into the choir. 

5 Given in full by Du Meril, p. 152. 

" The closing of F is evidently a reminis- 
cence of some play of the slaughter of the 
innocents. 

" The closing of R shows its afiBnity to 
the church service. 



8 The Sallust tag which occurs also In 
' Interfectio Puerorum' and in ' Ordo Rach- 
elis.' Sallust is quoted also in the second 
.iournee of Saint Didier, and other classics 
elsewhere.— Julleville, Les Myst^res, vol. 1, 
p. 261. 

9 Agrees with * Interfectio Puerorum.' 



66 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Here we close the second step of our investigation. We have 
seen the simple liturgy of the early church grow into an elaborate 
symbolism, which presented the life and work of Jesus so indirectly 
that the hearts of men were seldom touched by its teachings. This 
symbolism the new faith in a daily sacrifice revivified, and through 
it men's hearts were again melted by the tragedy of the cross. In 
the Western church the desire to view concretely that which had 
touched the heart so profoundly, led to theatrical representation of 
the highest dramatic moments of the ritual. Two groups of such 
moments we have followed down : the first, until we found it pass- 
ing over to the vernacular, a sure sign of severance from the church 
oflices ; the second, until single plays became but scenes or episodes 
in a more complicated drama, another sign of approaching inde- 
pendence, since such plays could no longer hold their appropriate 
places in the church calendar.' 

As these plays conform more and more to the popular taste, the 
sphere of their influence broadens, and their volume expands. 
Soon they will supplant the chanson de geste in the affections of 
the French, and the literati of a nation will express through them 
the mocking spirit of the Gaul, cutting with its satire the foibles 
of church and nation. 

It is no part of our present plan to seek in these later plays of the 
continent for testimony concerning mediaeval thoughts and manners, 
nor to examine, except cursorily, into their development or stage- 
setting. We are nearing the time when the English plays, 
evidently the outcome of long-established literary traditions, will 
present themselves fully developed, the most sympathetic exponent 
of the popular life of England in their day, and will offer to us, in 
the question of their literary ancestry and relationships what, to my 
mind, is the most interesting literary problem of the Middle Ages. 

Some knowledge, however, of the impress of the national spirit 
upon the cyclic plays of the continent, as shown in their form and 
in the manner of their presentation, will give increased significance 
to many features of the English plays. Accoi'dingly, we turn again 
to the continental plays to learn how cycles were built up, with 
something of their content and dependence upon the devices for 
their presentation. It will be necessary, also, to consider the atti- 
tude of the church towards the plays while they remained within 
the church edifice, as well as after they had passed out from under 
clerical authority, and to notice in passing the organizations, liter- 
ary and ptherwise, that made them their care. 



1 It must be boi-ne in mind that the simple plays of the church offices held their own 
until the Keformation, side by side with the expanded plays, and that sometimes clergy 
and laity were in active competition. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 67 

X. 
THE STAGE AND THE PLAY IN FRANCE. 

In the Orleans and Freising plays we have seen one method of 
combination by which single and ritual plays formed a continued 
drama. A related development is connected with the evolution of 
the stage. In the Mont St. Michel and Sens resurrection plays 
we are informed that the angel had a station ' super altare,' ' in 
pulpito." In the ' Officium Peregrinorum ' of Rouen are these 
words : " Et ita cantantes, ducant eum usque ad tabernaculum in 
medio navis ecclesije, similitudinem castelli Emau prjeparatum." 
In the Orleans play we read as a stage direction : "Parato Herode 
et caeteris personis," and in the Freising play :" " Ascendat rex et 
sedeat in solio." 

From these directions it is evident that all the actors took their 
assigned positions upon the stage at the opening of the play, and 
were conventionally absent when not performing their parts. Thus 
we read in the Orleans play :' " Tunc Magi abeuntes per aliam 
viam, non vidente Herode;" so, in 'Interfectio Puerorum,'* 
"Joseph abiens, non vidente Herode." 

The greater number of the actors did not move about the stage, 
but held fixed stations which were marked out upon the platform^ — 
here a throne and palace hall, there the interior of a dwelling — while 
one or two actors passed from group to group, connecting through 
their action the different episodes, each of which einbodied a single 
ritual play. These platforms were originally erected in the nave ; 
at Rouen, ° " in medio navis ecclesise." Upon the platform the sta- 
tions,' at first but slightly marked off, were afterwards defined by 
upright posts and cross-beams, the platform extending farther down 
the nave as the stations increased in number. The plays seem often 
to require an unobstructed view across the stage, which would 
necessitate stations without sides, and as nearly as possible free from 
theatrical furniture and sceneiy." 

How these primitive theatrical arrangements were used we learn 
from certain miracle and mystery plays. In the ' Secundum Mirac- 
uluni Sancti Nicholai' of the Orleans' MS., there is one station, the 
house of Senex. The action is as follows : 

1 See p. 65. 2 See p. 50. 3 See p. 65. 4 Wright. 

^ Ebert, vol. 5, p. 68. •> Du Cange, Peregrinorum OflHcium. 

' Cp. Julleville, vol, 1, p. 388. « Mone, vol. 3, p. 158. » Wright. 



68 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

The traveling- students approach, converse, enter, dine, and go to sleep. Their death 
is planned and in some way, probably by dumb show, represented. St. Nicholas applies 
for admission, enters, in dining- brings conviction to Senex by his words, prays that the 
students may be restored to life, and students and all join in the closing: ' Te Deum 
laudamus.'i 

In the ' Quartum Miracnlum Sancti Nicliolai,' of the same MS./ 
the stations have grown to three. On one side Rex Marmorinus sits 
enthroned, with armed guards ; on the other side Rex Getron with 
wife, son, and attendants ; in the centime stands the church of St. 
Nicholas, The action is carried on principally by messengers, is 
brief, and illustrates the use of fixed stations. 

The attendants salute Rex Marmorinus : " Salve, princeps, salve, rex optirae I" The 
king orders them to go forth, subjugate the world, and slay those resisting them. 

Getron with wife, son, and priests goes to the church as to some church festival. At 
the sight of the guards of Marmorinus, who are carrying out their lord's mandates by 
an advance upon the church, Getron flees, leaving the boy behind, who is led in triumph 
by the soldiers to their king, to whom they announce: "Quod jussisti, i-ex bone, feci- 
mus." 

The king ascribes praise to Apollo and inquires of the boy his parentage. This ques- 
tion gives occasion for six quatrains, rhyming in couplets, in which the king affirms: 
"Deus meus Apollo Deus est," and the boy stoutly maintains: " Deus tuus mendax et 
malusest." 

Meanwhile, Getron's wife, discovering her loss, returns to the church in search for 
her son, and now bursts forth into lamentations. Her attendants seek to comfort her, 
and she prays to Nicholas for the return of her son : 

Nicholie, pater sanctissime, 

****** ; 

Fac ut meus redeat Alius. 
It seems that she then returns home, although the stage dii-ection is lacking, and her 
husband in four quatrains, rhyming in couplets, advises dependence upon Nicholas. 
They then arise, go to the church, and she again prays to St. Nicholas. Afterwards 
they return home, and the table is spread with bread and wine, of which the clergy and 
beggars partake,— possibly a hint to the lookers-on of the proper ti-eatment of the stu- 
dent actors. 

About this time. Rex Marmorinus decides that he is hungry, and calls for food, which 
his attendants bring. Water also is brought; the king washes his hands, and eats. 
He is thirety, and bids the son of Getron bring wine. The boy sighs heavily, the king 
demands the cause, and emphasizes the impossibility of rescue. Incidentally, the boy 
states that he has been prisoner a year. Now enters " aliquis in similitudine Nicholal," 
and leads the boy out of the king's house. This, in spite of the attention centered upon 
the boy, no one discovers ! 

A citizen of Getron's dominions, who for unexplained reasons is in hostile territory, 
asks the lad's name, and runs to Getron with the news : 

Gaude, Getron, nee fleas amplius; 

Extra fores stat tuus Alius. 

Nicholai laudat magnalia, 

Cujus eum reduxit gratia. 
The mother hurries to her son, kisses him repeatedly and praises God and St. Nicholas. 
The play ends, "Chorus Omnis." 

1 The Salisbury Missal of 1534 has a picture of St. Nicholas, with the children rising 
from a tub, where their members have been placed in pickle by the inn-keeper.— Hone's 
Ancient Mysteries, p. 191. 2 Wright. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 69 

Such plays make us conscious of the feeble beginnings from 
which dramatic art has arisen. This play reads like a children's 
play for an improvised theater. The playwright succeeds fairly 
well in the capture, though the absurdity shown in the confidence of 
the soldiers that such a capture fulfilled such a command is appar- 
ently not evident, to the author. The child is now in the king's 
power ; how to contrive a reasonable escape would seem a diffi- 
cult problem, but it does not trouble our dramatist. The boy is 
reintroduced through his conversation with the king, though this 
expedient would seem to make his unobserved escape a difficult 
matter. Not at all ; an invisible St. Nicholas enters and sets the 
boy over the threshold, when he is free to go Avhere he will. The 
infancy of art alone possesses such resources. Rex Marmorinus 
does not leave his seat during the play, and Rex Getron simply 
walks to the church and back. Such simplicit}^ of action requires 
a narrative play with no complexity of situation and but few lead- 
ing characters. To such requirements the Bible story readily adapts 
itself, as we shall now see in the condensed cj^clic play found in 
the earliest extant Italian mystery play, and in one of the thir- 
teenth century in Germany. 



XL 

THE STAGE AND THE PLAY IN ITALY. 

According to Klein the oldest Italian plays,' known as "Devo- 
zioni," were designed, the first for Maundy Thursday, the second 
for Good Friday.^ An analysis may be given as follows :' 

The scene opens with the meal at the house of Lazarus six days before Easter.4 
Christ enters as from .Terusalom. Mary, followed by Mary Magdalene and Martha, 
goes to meet Him, embraces Him, and conjures Him not to return, as the Jews will 
kill him. Christ answers that He must do the will of His Father, but that she must 
not be sad, as He will tell her before He g-oes. They embrace again. 

At that the meal is served. Mai-y remains standing by Christ, saying continually, 
" My Son, My Son." In the meal Lazarus takes part. At the close Christ calls Mary Mag- 
dalene to his side and informs her, while she kneels before Him, that He will go to-day 

1 Dialect old and mi-ved ; Palermo, as referred to by Klein, vol. 4, p. 165. Date in first 
half of fourteenth century.— Klein, vol. 4, p. 165. 

2 The only Italian representative of this step of development.— Ebert, vol. 5, p. 66. 
The play not in the liturgy but acted during service.— Ebert, vol. 5, p. 67. 

3 The following abstract follows Klein 4, p. 157 ff., and Ebert in Jahrbuch f iir Roman- 
ische uud Englische Literatur 5, p. 58 ff. 

■• Ebert believes that there was a scaffold in the middle aisle, upon which Bethany and 
'the Mount of Olives were located.— Ebert, vol. 5, p. 68 ; cp. p. 104. 



70 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

to Jerusalem, where He will suffer the death of the cross. He commends to her cai'e 
His mother, who will be so deeply troubled. She herself is to keep this news a secret 
until He is taken. i Mary Magdalene promises this, then kisses His feet. He, thereupon, 
retires and joins the rest of the company, but Mary Magdalene remains. Mary comes to 
Mary Magdalene and wishes to know what her Son has said, but Mary Magdalene 
declines to tell. Both, then, go to Christ. Mary would kneel to Him, but is prevented 
by Him. She asks why He is so sad, and shows great anxiety. Christ now tells her that 
for the redemption of the world He goes to His death. Mary swoons. Reviving, she 
bewails her fate. " Call me henceforth no more Mary, since I have lost Thee, my Son !" 
At the close of the conversation both fall in a swoon. They rise and embrace. Christ 
then goes to His seat.2 

Mary kneels to Judas, begging him not to forsake Jesus, if He should fall into the 
hands of the people. 3 Judas permits her to kneel, and replies ambiguously, " It is not 
necessary to entreat me more, as I know what I have to do." She then kneels to Peter, 
who will not permit it, and vows that he will protect Christ against the world. Now go 
Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Lazarus to Christ, who embraces His mother, and 
offers to depart. Mary Magdalene prays that they may accompany Him to the gate of 
the city, to which Christ assents. They proceed together to Jerusalem. When they 
reach the gate, Mary declares that she is unwilling to leave her Son. He insists, but 
promises to send to her the angel Gabriel until John can come. Instantly the angel 
appears. Mary blesses her Son. Again they swoon. Jesus rises and " steps through 
another door into Jerusalem." Mary Magdalene and Martha raise and support Mary 
while she speaks to the people : 

O Figlio mio tanto amoroso 
O Figlio mio, due se' tu andato ? 
******* 
Ditemi, o done, per amore de Dio, 
Dov' ^ andato el Figlio mio ? 

She then turns to the angel, and entreats him to tell her all the sorrows of Christ, that 
through the hearing she may find death. Mary Magdalene enti-eats Marj' to return to 
Bethany and await John's arrival. Mary beseeches the two sisters not to leave her, 
kneeling before them. They now return to Bethany, Mary speaking touching words 
to the women by the way.J All enter Bethany together." 

Forthwith, the scene of Christ's prayer upon the Mount of Olives begins. He takes 
with Him Peter, James, and John, commands them to rest but watch, while He goes to 
pray. He kneels down, takes the cups in His hand, and, lifting up His eyes, praj's. He 
returns to His followers, as in the Bible narrative. The second time, Christ puts a 
stone under His head and sleeps a little. After the third prayer an angel appears. 
Christ now wakens the three young men while, according to the stage direction, 
the armed men prepare to take Him prisoner. Christ goes to the other apostles. The 
thief-catchers with Judas come. "Quem qua-ritis?" and the following words of Christ 
are in Latin. The arrest follows. Fastened by a thong, Christ is led away, while all His 
followers forsake Him. 

Here ends the play, but there is little break between this and the 
' Devozion ' of Good Friday which, beginning when the preacher 
comes to the passage where Pilate commands that Christ shall be 
scourged,' is as follows : 

1 Note that Jesus informs His mother soon after, and this requirement of secrecy 
seems to be satisfied by Mary Magdalene's refusal to tell Mary. 

2 The conventional exit. Cp. Julleville, vol. 1, p. 389. 

3 One of the most artistic touches in the early dramas. 

* This consciousness of an audience appears elsewhere in this play, notably where 
John reminds the women of their sons. s A conventional exit. 

6 The prostrations, kissing, blood, and cup are all liturgical traces.— Ebert, vol. 5, p. 70. 

7 The lesson for the day was Chaps. 18 and 19 of John's Gospel, the nineteenth begin- 
ning, " Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him."— Ebert, vol. 5, p. 67. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 7 1 

Christ enters, stripped for the scourging-, with His tormentoi-s, who lead Him through 
the throng to the assigned spot where the column stands. John stands near Christ. The 
scourgers strike Him a little reverently, and listen to Christ's words to John, who kneels 
before Him. He bids John call the Virgin. The men now strike and revile Christ and 
lead Him away. John asks the people where Mary is. He shows a black garment 
which he would carry to her, and seeks to rouse feeling by reminding the women of 
their own sons.i 

Mary Magdalene now comes from the women's side of the church to the stage2 and 
steps before John while she bewails the sad news she has heard. John prays her to 
accompany him to Mary, as he has not the heart to go alone. Meanwhile Mary appears 
on the other side and they go to her. She laments when she sees the black garment. 
Mai"y Magdalene informs her of Christ's captivitj', and invites her to take the garment. 
Christ now appears bearing His cross, accompanied by a throng of women, to whom He 
teaches the words of the Bible. Meanwhile, He approaches the spot where Mary, Mary 
Magdalene, and John stand. Mary hastens to Him to embrace Him. The Jews drive 
her away. Christ drops His cross. Mary, bemoaning her fate, would take the cross,3 
but the Jews drive her back. She falls fainting, and Christ passes on to Golgotha. 
Mary revives, seeks for her Son, inquires of the women, then goes with Mary Magda- 
lene and John to the place of execution. 

Now the preacher* explains the situation, and at a signal from him the Jews nail 
Christ to the cross and lift it up. Christ speaks, and prays for His enemies. Mary 
addresses the cross. " Bow down thy branches that thy Creator may find rest." 

Inclina li toi rami, o croce alta, 
E dola [dona] reposo a lo tuo Creatore ; 
Lo corpo precioso ja se spianta ; 
Lasa la tua forza e lo tuo vigore. 

Here again the preacher speaks, while the play pauses until he gives the sign, when 
Christ's speech with the robbers follows. Now the deads arise. Three of these speak to 
Jesus, declaring that the souls in Hell expect Him, the Patriarchs and Prophets; one 
has also come to stand by Marj' and serve her. 

The preacher finds it necessary to explain this. Again at the signal the play goes on. 
The Virgin prays Mary Magdalene to direct Christ's attention to her. saying that He 
had spoken to the robbers, but not a word to her.fi Mary Magdalene complies, and 
Christ commends His Mother to the care of John, who, kneeling and kissing Mary's 
feet, strives to comfort her. Mary laments, embraces the cross, and faints.' 

The preacher takes up his discourse until Jesus cries out, "My God, My God, why 
hast Thou forsaken me ?" Meanwhile, God says to His angels that they must strengthen 
His Son.s The angels prostrate themselves, withdraw and descend.9 They examine to 
see which Is the Son. Meanwhile, the devil appeal's and approaches the cross upon the 
right side. One of the angels now descends fully, to receive the blood of Christ. Jesus 
thirsts. The Jews hand Him with jokes the vinegar mingled with gall, and He refuses 
to taste it. Mary bewails the malice of the Jews. Jesus exclaims, *' It la finished." 

1 See note 4, p. 70. 

2 The stage is only one location. The action is in different parts of the church.— Klein, 
vol. 4, p. 164. 

3 So Mary desires to take the cross in the Woodkirk Mysteries. The Towneley Mys- 
teries, p. 313. 

•1 Compare the preacher with the expositor in the Chester plays. 

5 See cut, p. T5. 

6 This complaint Mary addresses to Christ in the Coventry Mysteries, p. 333. 

' Note the author's repeated i-ecourse to this as an expedient for removing Mary tem- 
porarily from the action. 

8 Ebert believes there was a scaffold in the choir which represented Heaven, that 
there was a Hell mouth and a post for scourging, but that some action took place in 
the aisles of the church.— Ebert, vol. .5, p. 68. 

9 There must have been a stairway from Golgotha to Heaven, or some means for paus- 
ing midway. 



72 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

The preacher again explains. At a sign the devil speaks in humble tone, trying to per- 
suade Christ to resign the world to him and save himself from death. Christ turns 
from him— "Thou wilt never see me rest until I have driven thee out." The devil 
speaks louder and more threateningly, promising him the lordship of the world. The 
lance thrust of Longinusi follows, his healing and gratitude. Jesus again speaks, com- 
mending His spirit to God, at which the devil throws himself upon the ground. 

Again the preacher speaks to the people. Mary and John address the people, 
bewailing Christ's death. Joseph and Nicodemus enter, and take Christ from the cross. 
They ask of Mary permission to bury Him. She grants it, but will first embrace Him. 
This is a touching scene. Joseph stands at Christ's head, Mary Magdalene at His feet. 
Mary kisses the limbs of Christ, His eyes, cheeks, mouth, sides, and feet, while she 
speaks touching words to the others or thej' to her. She shows John the lacerated 
hands. "These are the holj' hands wherewith He blessed all," says John. The angel 
Gabriel appears to comfort Mary and advise her to permit the burial. Mary grants it 
with much lamentation. Joseph and Nicodemus carry Christ to the grave, while Mary, 
John, and Mary Magdalene go down the women's aisle. Mary turns and shows the peo- 
ple the nails of the cross which she carries. Mary Magdalene e.xhorts them to resist 
the devil as Jesus had done. Here they enter Jerusalem and the play closes. 



XII. 
THE STAGE AND THE PLAY IN GERMANY. 

The following play is of the thirteenth century." It shows an 
intermixtui'e of Latin and German, similar to that observed in the 
Ludus de Nocte Pasche/ A comparison of the German and Ital- 
ian plays will serve to show how widely accepted were the same 
literary conventions among the writers of mysteries. The fixed 
stations, the continual presence of the actors, their supposed absence 
when sitting, the avoidance of any complexity of action, such as 
the advancement of plot through bye-play ; all are common charac- 
teristics. In development the German play is evidently the older, 
since it is still largely in Latin. It also lacks many of the dramatic 
features of the Italian, adhering closely to the Biblical narrative 
where the Italian artist strikes out a path of his own. 

The following abstract was made from Hoffmann's edition of the 
play: 

Pilate and wife with soldiers take their places, then Herod with his soldiers, then the 
priests, the merchant and his wife, lastly Mary Magdalene. Afterwards, the 'dominica 
persona '-1 goes alone to the shore to call Peter and Andrew, and finds them fishing. 
The Lord says to them, " Follow me ; 1 will make you tishers of men." They reply, 
" Lord, what thou wishest, we will do." Then the Lord goes to Zaccheus, and a blind 
man meets him,— "Domine lesu, fill David, miserere mei." Jesus heals him. He then 
bids Zaccheus descend from the tree, as he would tarry at his bouse.s Jesus passes on. 



1 Longinus, the centurion, stood by the cross. The Gospel of Nicodemus. [II.] 
Longinus, the soldier, pierced Christ's side.— The Gospel of Nicodemus. TLl 

2 Hoffmann, vol. 3, p. 245. a See p. 25 ; also Hoffmann, vol. 2, p. 273. 

4 Cf. ' Figura' for the Almighty in 'Adam.' 6 He does not visit Zaccheus, however. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 73 

Children strew branches and g-arments before him, singing Gloria and Laus. Now the 
Pharisee invites him to dinner. He accepts, and the Pliarisee urges his servants to 
hasten tlie prepai-ations.i 

Mary Magdalenes sing-s in Latin of the joys of tliis world, and seeks the merchant 
with her girl companions to buy for herself ointment. The merchant offers his wares 
in Latin. Mary sings a German love song with the chorus : 

Seht raich an, junge man. 
Lilt mich eu gevallen. 

She now enters the house, and an angel announces to her that Jesus, the Nazarene, who 
forgives the sins of the people, is dining with Simon. She rises, and again sings her 
song of the delights of life,—" Mundi delectatio dulcis est et grata," etc. A lover enters, 
whom Mary salutes. They converse, then Mary sings to the girls : 
Koufe wir die varwe da, 
Die uns machen schoene unde wolgetane. 

She now appeals again to the merchant, who tenders his wares this time in German. 
The ointment purchased, she again eaters the house, and the angel meets her as before, 
and disappears. She rises once more and repeats her song of the pleasures of the 
world, then falls asleep, and the angel appearing repeats his song of Jesus who for- 
gives sinners. 

Mary awakes and breaks into lamentation : " Heu vita prseterita, vita plena malis," 
etc. 

The angel appears and says : " I declare unto you that there is joy in Heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth." 

Mary scorns her secular garb and lays aside her robes, putting on a black garment. 
The lover and the devil retire. ^ She goes again to the merchant, seeking precious 
ointment,* which the merchant sells her for a talent of gold. 

The chorus sings : ^^ Accessit ad pedes." s 
, Mary now enters the house of Simon, and, weeping, appi-oaches Jesus. As she anoints 
his feet she sings one stanza in Latin, followed by two in German. The Pharisee utters 
the well-known words, and Judas bewails the waste. Jesus declares the work a good 
one, addresses to Simon Peter his question about the debtors, asking which of those for- 
given would love the more. Peter replies, and Christ announces to Mary the forgive- 
ness of her sins. Mary, at this, retires lamenting : 

Awe, awe daz ich ie wart geborn. 

Jesus now departs to raise Lazarus and is met by the sisters,6 wailing for their brother. 
There is no expansion of the Biblical narrative. The incident closes with " Lazare, veni 
foras,'"! alter which there is a chant by the clergy. 

Judas, meanwhile, hastens to the priests exclaiming, " O Pontifices, o viri magnl 
consilii, lesum volo nobis tradei'e." The bargain is struck, the sign is agreed upon, and 
the Jews follow Judas with swords and lights. 



1 This requires four stations, beginning at the sea-shore. Peter and Andrew appar- 
ently follow Christ to the house of the Pharisee. He crosses the boundary and sits 
down. 

2 Evidently rises from her place and advances to the merchant's station. 

3 It would seem that the lover has been sitting in the house since his first entrance, 
although he has said nothing. The devil is hard to account for. 

* It is there supposed that some time has elapsed, and that her precious purchase is 
exhausted. 
6 An evidence of intimate connection with the service. 

6 Evidently Mary withdi-ew to join her sister in the Bethany station. Such examples 
of preparation for future situations are comparatively rare. 

7 Lazarus pi-obably did not appear upon the stage. The symbolic nature of this inci- 
dent illustrates the intimacy existing between the symbolism of the ritual and the 
realism of the play. In the six lines given to the scene, three are chanted by the clergy: 
it is practically a leaf of the church service slipped into the drama, and seema to have 
satisfied author and audience, although the motived utterance, "Lazare, veni foras," 
leads to no issue. 

Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 



74 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Meanwhile, Jesus does 'as is the custom at a t'east.'i Now he takes four disciples, 
ascends Mount Olivet, and enacts this scene in the words of the Biblical narrative. The 
Jews appear, and Jesus asks: "Quem quasritis?" They reply: "lesum Nazarenum." 
Jesus replies : " Ego sum," and the crowd falls back. When he is taken, ali the apostles 
except Peter and Judas leave him. Peter fortliwith denies him twice. The priests 
chant appropriate Bible verses. Jesus is led to Pilate, then to Herod who clothes him in 
white and returns him to Pilate. The action passes on in the fewest words possible till 
Jesus is led out for scourging, 3 when he is clad in purple and crowned with thorns. 
Pilate says: "Ecce homo." The Jews cry: "Cruciflge, cruciflge eum." The dialogue 
in short Bible verses continues until Pilate washes his hands, and Jesus is led away for 
cruciflxion. 

Now Judas comes penitent, weeping-, to the priests, who reject him. The devil ap- 
pears and persuades him to hang- himself.s 

The women follow Jesus, < weeping-. He is placed upon the cross and the title aflBxed : 
"lesus Nazarenus Kex ludasorum." The Jews object, and Pilate answers: "Quod 
scrips! scripsi." 

The Virgin now enters with John and, lamenting, beholds the crucified. "Awe, awe 
mich hint unde immer me " begins the lamentation of Mary, so similar to those of 
earlier date.5 This is continued in Latin, as, smiting- her breast, she addresses the weep- 
ing- women. She concludes by embracing- John and speaking- eight lines while holding 
him in her arms, concluding:: 

Immolemus Intimas 

Lacrimorura victimas 

Christo morienti. 

The direction here reads : " Et per horam quiescat sedendo,"6 after which she again rises, 
addresses John, and John i-eplies. Jesus now says, while John supports the Virg-in: 
" Mulier, ecce Alius tuus," and to John : " Ecce mater tua." , 

John and Mary withdraw from tiie cross.' Jesus thirsts, tastes the vinegar and cries, 
"It is finished." Longinus appears and pierces Christ's side. Jesus cries: "Ell, Eli, 
lamma sabacthani," and expires. Longinus gives his testimony in Latin and German. 

Vere Alius Dei erat iste. 
Dirre is des wtiren Gotes sun, 
adding, 

Er htit zeichen an mir getan 
Wan ich min sehen wider han,8 

■while the Jews tarry to see whether Elias will come to help him, and one closes the 
scene with : "Alios salvos fecit, se ipsum non potest salvum facere." 

An epilogue of sixteen German verses closes the play; of these Joseph of Arimathea 
sings the Arst eight, and Pilate concludes the song. 

1 Jesus must have returned to the Jerusalem station, adjoining which Mount Olivet 
was probably situated. This bye-play during- the performance of a leading action is 
very rare in these early plays. 

2 Since the mocking, though brief, is repre.5ented, it is probable that the scourging 
was also. 

8 Compare with the appearance of the devil in the Italian play, p. 71. 

* In the former play Jesus teaches the women, p. 7L 

6 See p. 21. 

6 This must mean that the play is suspended for a sermon, the priest explaining at 
once the whole mystery instead of interposing his remarks as iti the Italian play. 

1 Does Mary withdraw because of the improbability of her silence during agonizing 
moments while others carry on the play? In the Italian play she swoons at such 
moments. i , 

8 Compare the Italian play, p. 73. 



i 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



75 



XIII. 



THE OUT-DOOR STAGE. 



If we compare the above abstracts of action with the following 
sketch of the open-air stage of the sixteenth centurj^, as found 
attached to a MS. of the fifteenth century Easter Play,' Ave shall 
obtain an idea of the use of fixed stations in the developed cycle, 
sufliciently clear for our purpose. 



JZL 




The three divisions of the the stage. 

11. The house of Annas. 

12. The house of the Last Supper. 

13. The third door. 
14, 15, 16, 17. Graves from which the dead 

arise. 
18, 19. Crosses of the two thieves. 

20. Cross of Christ. 

21. The Holy Sepulcher. 

22. Heaven. 



A, B, C. 

1. The first door. 

2. Hell. 

3. The Garden of Gethsemane. 

4. Mount Olivet. 
.5. The second door. 

6. Herod's palace. 

7. Pilate's palace. 

8. The pillar of scourging. 

9. The pillar upon which stands the cock. 
10. The house of Caiaphas. 

The three divisions of the stage correspond to the three divisions 
of the church : the nave, choir, and sanctuary.^ The action begins 
in the nave, and passes, station by station, through the choir into 
the sanctuary. The distribution of stations bears some relation to 
the sanctity of the division. The cross and Heaven are in the 
sanctuary. Hell is in the nave. This remoteness of position was not 
objectionable for the Inferno, as it was customary for the devils to 
make excursions about the stage and even among the audience. 
This we see in the Norman play of Adam, York Plays, etc. They 
even acted as police within boundai'les,* and the unlucky wight who 
crossed the line became the prey of the devils, to the amusement of 
the audience. 

In regard to the genesis of the out-door stage for the mystery 
plays, I cannot agree with Mone,* who derives the scaffold from the 



i Mone, vol. 2, p. 1.56. 2 Cp. Julleville, vol. 1, p. 392. 

3 Cp. Julleville, vol. 1, p. 393. At Rouen in 1474, paradise was in the east or sanctuary 
end of the church. * Mone, vol. 3, p. 129. s Mone, vol. 2, p. 159. 



76 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

remains of the Roman amphitheater, then existing in France, This 
theory, as it seems to me, is founded upon two misconceptions : 
first, that the German plays were later than the French and bor- 
rowed from them ; but we have found them of about the same date, 
and, while slower of development, not by any means servile imita- 
tions of the French ; secondly, that the French plays were survivals 
of the Roman, a favorite theory with the French, but now rejected 
by their most careful writers, except so far as it applies to the early, 
unfoi-med comedy. On the contrary, the form of the stage, its 
traditions and customs, point directly to the platform within the 
church. When the plays were taken out of the church, whether 
because of clerical prohibition, into Avhich we will look shortly, or 
because space was too limited for the crowds and the platform, or 
for other reasons, the stage was simply transplanted, and suffered 
change no more rapidly than the developing plays demanded. 

I am aware that we cannot fully solve the problem of seating 
such vast audiences' so that all could see and hear. It is very 
possible that all the audience did not have favorable positions. 
Such conditions have existed at anniversary meetings and foot-ball 
games without seriously diminishing the audience. Yet a familiar 
play, upon a platform erected in a public square surrounded by 
houses whose roofs" and windows would furnish a favorable outlook 
for many, could be seen satisfactorily by thousands.' 

This stationary platform, often of great size and sometimes of 
three stories,* with Hell beneath and Heaven above, and crowded 
with persons* and paraphernalia, was a distinctive feature of the 
continental play. To this the English cycles presented a marked 
contrast. The gild plays of England changed the station of the 
continental stage into a movable pageant, or platform, and instead 
of calling the population of a city to the stage, rolled the platform 
through the streets in orderly succession from audience to audience. 

1 At Reims in 1490, it is said, there were 16,000 spectators.— JuUeville, vol. 1, p. 409. 

t A portion of a house, upon whose roof many people sat as spectators, fell, killing: 33 
men.— Hoffman, 2, p. 343, referring- to Flogel, Geschichte der komischen Literatur, vol. 
4, Th. S. 250. 

3 At Lyons in 1540 one Jean Neyron erected a vast theatre with balconies and boxes, 
where plays of the Old and New Testaments were acted for two or three years on feast- 
days and Sundays.— JuUeville, vol. 1, p. 357. The French, in the 15th and 16th centuries, 
built boxes for the aristocratic spectators and placed benches for others, at great 
expense, which was partly met by entrance fees.— JuUeville, vol. 1, pp. 401, 405. 

4 Not immediately over each other necessarily, but with Hell covered over at one end 
of the platform, and Heaven rising at the other end.— JuUeville, vol. 1, p. 388. 

5 A Resurrection Play in ,the library of Lucerne, MS. date 1494, employed 40 persons ; 
one of Frankfort, date 1498, 265 persons; one of Seurre on the Saone, date 1496, 163 
persons.— Mone, vol. 2, p. 123. 



Charles Bamdson — English Mystery Plays. 11 

Of this movable stage I have foiind no trace upon the continent, 
except in the Jew plays of Italy, where, on wagon-stages drawn by 
oxen, the Jew in effigy was mocked, tormented, and finally burned," 
and in the representations upon chariots, given by the Basoche in 
the provinces, but unknown in Paris. ^ 



XIV. 

EVIDENCES OF EARLY ITALIAN AND SPANISH PLAYS. 

Such aid as the continental plays, prior to the date of the extant 
English plays, can give towards the study of the English cycles has, 
according to my knowledge, been presented ; not in its detail, which 
will serve better as illustration when taken with the English plays, 
but in the general outline, as showing the trend of development in 
the various stages of advancement and severance from the church 
ritual. Our reliance has been almost entirely upon the French and 
German plays. The notices of the Italian drama, prior to the 
" Devozioni " that we have outlined, are quickly given. 
- We hear of Italian plays first in 1244, the records stating that on 
that date a Passion and Resurrection Play was presented.' On Whit- 
suntide and the two following days, in 1238, according to the chron- 
icle of Julianus, Canon of Cividale, the Passion, Resurrection, 
Ascension, and Outpouring of the Holy Spirit* were- acted,' form- 
ing a cycle of no mean proportions. But already other portions of 
the Bible narrative, which the church linked with the Advent plays 
as prophetic or explanatory of Christ's coming, were claiming atten- 
tion, and six years later, according to the same authority, the Creation 
of Adam and Eve, the Annunciation, and Birth were played. Thus 
we find in Italy as early as 1306, in two cycles, probably written in 
Latin, and surely played under the direction or patronage of the 
highest clergy, the principal scenes of the future world-cycle that 
should extend from the Creation of the Angels to the Last Judgment. 
It is evident that the mystery plays must have arisen in Italy as 
in France, although but scanty remains of the liturgical plays are 
extant ; otherwise cyclic dramas so early as 1298 would be impossible 
of explanation. That they also had a recognized standing in the 

1 Klein, vol. 4, p. 239. 2 Julleville, Les Comediens, p. 133. 3 Bbert, vol. 5, p. 51. 

4 Evidently the Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, were considered as forming a fitting 
introduction to the Giving of the Holy Spirit of which the celebration was a com- 
memoration. 5 Ebert, vol. 5, p. 54. 



78 Charles Davidson — Enrfllsh Mystery Plays. 

Spanish church as early as the thirteenth century is proved by the 
code of Alfonso the Tenth, of about 1260, which, while forbidding 
buffoonery plays, expressly states that " Exhibitions there be, that 
clergymen may make, such as that of the birth of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which shows how the angel came to the shepherds and how 
he told them that Jesus Christ was born, and, moreover, of his 
appearance when the Three Kings came to visit him, and of his 
resurrection, which shows how he was crucified and rose the third 
day.'" It adds, however, that these should be in the cities under 
the eye of the bishop or archbishop, not in the villages, nor to gain 
money thereby. 

But in Spain, through adverse circumstances, the development of 
the play was arrested, and when at last, in 1496, the early dramatic 
type for Spain was set by the Representaciones of Enzina," its direct 
inspiration was the Latin pastoral rather than the liturgical drama. 

In Italy, on the contrary, the influences wei'e favorable. Com- 
mercial cities and wealthy patrons fostered literature. Monasteries 
and religious brotherhoods lavished wealth upon their Rappresenta- 
zioni, in some respects, it must be confessed, to the injury of the 
plays, since their prodigal expenditure encouraged spectacular effects 
to the detriment of dramatic power. 

In brief, then, as we turn to the more specific problem of the 
English plays, we shall look to Spain for little assistance, to Italy 
for much ; but our most important aids will be found in Germany 
and France. The French church plays furnished the models for the 
liturgical plays of England. The German plays will afford most 
instructive illustrations of the gradual intrusion of the Teutonic 
humor, so evident in the York and Woodkirk Plays. 

The universality of tradition in ecclesiastical literature gave rise 
to uniformity of treatment, and to the choice of similar, oftentimes 
of the same, literary motives, throughout the Roman church. The 
result may be monotonous as literature, but is invaluable as supplying 
a common starting point for national literatures. Upon this material 
the folk-spirit impressed its individuality. In the changing treat- 
ment and interpretation we detect the compelling influence of suc- 
cessive phases of thought. From this vast store-house, as from a 
quarry, the later generations have selected according to their needs 
and fashioned according to their taste. Here the students of mod- 
ern literature stand on common ground, and, viewing each several 
stream on its divergent course, can take note of each deflection due 

1 Ticknor, vol. 1, p. 230. a Ticknor, vol. 1, p. 245. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Flays. 89 

to a foreign cause, of each break or eddy tliat betokens the vexation, 
dubiety, or sudden illumination of the national life that lies at the 
bottom of, and is faithfully mirrored in, every literature worthy of 
the name. 



XV. 

THE ATTITUDE OF THE CLERGY TOWARD THE PLAY. 

There still remain for our consideration, before we turn to England, 
the question of the divorce of the play from the chui-ch, and that of 
the status of the writers of these later plays, whose number is 
legion and whose prolixity' appals the reader. 

The writers upon mystery plays agree with great unanimity that 
the plays were driven out of the churches by the disapproval of the 
higher clergy. It is stated that the introduction of lay actors, of 
the vernacular speech, and, above all, of burlesque and comic epi- 
sodes, scandalized the devout and provoked the prohibitions of popes 
and councils. It seems to me that the statement is true only in a 
much narrower sense. 

In the first place the plays did not leave the churches,^ but, in their 
less developed ritualistic form, remained a part of the service until 
the Reformation, and indeed in many countries or sections long 
after. The people delighted in pageants, masques, and shows of 
every kind, and the church did not yield its right to make the ser- 
vice attractive by tableau, puppet-show, and liturgical drama, 
although such plays received comment less often than the open-air 
plays. 

If, then, these plays survived in the churches, it must have been 
understood that the clerical prohibition was not directed against 
every species of mystery play, for no play within the church could 
have withstood for centuries the uniform opposition of the higher 
clergy. A glance at the attitude of the church toward plays before 
the mystery arose may aid us in understanding the situation, for 
the Roman church has usually kept in touch with its earlier tradi- 
tions. 

From the beginning of the third century, when Tertullian wrote 
his De Spectaculis, until the tenth century, the church held con- 



1 The history of Joseph in the 'Viel Testament' fills 7000 verses. Les Actes des 
Apotres, par Arnoul et Simon Greban, Is given In 61,908 vei'ses. The Mystere de Sainte 
Marguerite contains 10,000 verses. " Julleville, vol. 1, p. 78. 



80 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

sistently a condemnatory attitude. In 610, at the second council of 
Braga, so in 813, and again in 816, the councils spoke in no uncer- 
tain tone. They condemned absolutely the performances of the 
Histriones, Musici, and Mimi. These continued the traditions of 
the Roman stage, which had adopted the Greek drama of intrigue, 
and exhibited realistically what the earlier drama had but insinuated. 
The Fathers use clear language, and show unmistakably that they 
condemn these because they teach immorality and all manner of 
iniquity. Indeed, St. Augustine carefully makes a distinction be- 
tween the mimes and the comedies and tragedies, " the latter class 
being at least free from filthy language, while their study is approved 
by elders in their scheme of liberal education." The plays of the 
day pandered to the lowest imaginations of man. The classic 
drama had been relegated to the closet. The attitude of the broader- 
minded of the clergy — of those who did not consider all mental 
activity a sinful waste when not devoted to the offices of the church 
— was a reasonable one, distinguishing between lasciviousness of 
motive and salutary instruction and diversion by theatrical repre- 
sentation. 

We have seen* that these licentious and comic plays survived until 
the time of the mystery, and that in France they formed a partial 
fusion with the sacred drama, giving rise to certain abnormal devel- 
opments, such as the Feast of the Ass. When, therefore, we find 
the church condemning certain plays and classes of actors under the 
names of histriones, joculatores, etc., it is necessary to infer that the 
same classes of play and actor are meant as aforetime, that their 
intrusion into the church is reprobated, and that mystery plays that 
have the taint within them are condemned. 

In the northern countries, as in France, the popular festivities of 
the national holidays continually sought expression within and about 
the church edifice. The church had made itself the centre of all 
communal interests, so with the quickening of the national spirit an 
expression was sought within the walls of the church home. But 
this brought irreverence and indecorum. The hobby-horse in Eng- 
land, the Schimmelreiter in Germany and other ' monstra lavarum ' ' 
miist keep out of the churches. This will explain various interdicts, 
and will serve to show how in the Middle Ages manj'^ a distinction 



1 See p. 42. 

2 In a MS. of the twelfth century at Strasburg- is a drawing- of a ' Ludus moustroruin ;' 
it is a puppet-show. For the use of monsters, dragons, giants, etc. in religious proces- 
sions see Magnin, Histoire des Marionettes, pp. 61, 66, 313. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 81 

was made of which we lose sight because our knowledge of their 
life is vague and general. 

The primary cause for the departure of the play from the church 
must, as it seems to me, be sought for elsewhere. We have studied 
the gradual expansion Avithin the church of the mj'stery from the 
rudimentary play of the ritual to the independent but condensed 
cyclic play. Either development must stop here or the play must 
leave the church. The nave could not contain the necessary stage, 
nor the edifice the audience. Great numbers brought confusion and 
disorder. As a consequence the play moved out of the church into 
the churchyard, as shown in the Norman play of Adam, or into the 
open space about the monastery, as the direction " ad januas mon- 
asterii " of the Orleans play' indicates. 

Other motives, as is usual, emphasized a tendency. The longer 
play led to the introduction of interludes and comic scenes to relieve 
the tedium. The development of devil-play put upon the fiends, 
through the traditional license of devilish behavior, the onus of 
enlivening the people when wearied by the continued play. Their 
language might be plain, and to us blasphemous, but it was not 
lascivious, and often contained a telling moral lesson. If we make 
allowance for the frank realism of the day, we must accept these 
plays as devout in nature, with the purpose to instruct the people 
and promote religion. Therefore the priests could encourage them, 
take part in them, or write them. They could be made the vehicle 
for sermons upon morals of which the instances, especiall}'^ in Eng- 
lish plays, are many, and the papal benediction could be sought and 
given, as was, probably, the case with the Chester plays." 

Furthermore, as the commercial spirit grew, the concourse of peo- 
ple at the church on sacred festal days offered facilities for barter, 
and booths became fairs. These festal days were also the days of 
the mystery play, and thus in England a connection between play 
and fair was established ; not, as Warton maintains, that the play 
was fashioned to draw to the fair, but fair and play depended upon 
the church holy day. No one will doubt but that merchants and 
monks were shrewd enough to turn both to their advantage, when 
once the connection was established. 



1 p. 51. 

2 The text of prohibitions is given by D'Ancona, Origini del Teatro in Italia, vol. 1, 
p. 51. Hoffmann, vol. 2, pp. 241-4; Mone, vol. 3, pp. 367-8; Wright, p. XII, taken from 
Hoffman. The subject is discussed in Smith's Diet, of Christian Ant. under Theati-e, 
Actor, closing', however, before the rise of the mystery; Prynne's Histrio-Maatrix is 
important for clues, but the author's bias must be borne in mind. 



82 Charles Davidson — EmfUsh Mystery Plays. 

XVI. 
THE PUY. 

The agencies that took part in the composition and representation 
of the plays, after they ceased to be liturgical, are many. As has 
been shown, the church did not take an attitude of opposition unless 
certain objectionable features were present.' Therefore monkish 
and other religious authors often wrote plays," and even acted lead- 
ing roles.* Again, monasteries often bore the burden of presentation. 
This was most frequently the case in Italy.* The religious brother- 
hoods* that spread over Catholic Europe as early as the twelfth 
century were oftentimes the promoters of the mystery play. If, as 
seems probable, the craft gilds had a religious origin,' or assumed 
functions akin to those of religious brotherhoods, their connection 
with the play is easily understood. Through connection with the 
craft gilds the Meistersanger of Germany also shared in the develop- 
mental history of the drama. Indeed, Mone attributes the downfall 
of the mystery in Germany — though probably other agencies were 
more potent — to the prolixity of the Meistersanger plays, involving 
the introduction of so many actors and so much machinery that the 
unskilled craft players could not successfully present the action. 

In France, the Puy, that shadowy literary academy of the Middle 
Ages, was the immediate successor of the clergy.' These Puys, 
semi-religious, semi -literary, were very numerous in the West and 
North of France. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries they 
were devoted to the service of the Virgin, and the members com- 
posed verse in her honor, but in the thirteenth century the influence 
of the lay members led to a broader literary life, and they cultivated 
zealously the religious drama. To some Puy the C3^cle of Notre 
Dame is attributed. In the Puy d'Arras, it is believed, the comedies 
of Adam de la Halle were played. These literary societies, about the 
fifteenth century, turned to other lines of literary activity, to morali- 

1 In France, the play passed from the hands of the clergy in the twelfth century, but 
they were interested in it even in the fifteenth century.— J ulleville, vol. 1, p. 347. 

2 .Tulleville g'ives sltetches of the eighteen known authors of French mystery plays. 
Among- these there were nine religious or ecclesiastical authoi's, one lawyer, one notary, 
one physician, two valets de charabre, and one princess.— Les Myst^res, vol. 1, p. 314 ff. 

3 Julleville. vol. 1, p. 367. ^ Ebert, vol. 5, p. 56. 

5 Compagnia de Battuti of Treviso established 1361, Ebert, vol. 5, p. 52. Compag7iia del , 
Gonfalone of Rome, Hase, p. 18, and Ebert, vol. 5, p. 53. Brethren of St. Liike of Ant- 
werp, artisans, Hase, p. 18. 

6 Wilda, Gildenwesen im Mittelalter; also Gross, Gild-Merchant, p. 175. 

7 Julleville, vol. 1, p. 115 If. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 83 

ties, farces, chansons, chants I'oyaux, etc., the mj^sten^ falling to the 
various societies of confreres of which the Confreres de la Passion, 
of Paris, was the most famous. The sources and makers of the 
English plays will be the subject of the following chapters. 



XVII. 
PAGEANTRY IN MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 

As we enter the English field, we are confronted by a confusion of 
names that is bewildering. It would seem as though writers classed 
eveiything from a wrestling bout to a mystery as a play. Some do 
not hesitate to affirm that pageant and play were synonymous terms.' 
So little regard has been paid to classification by such writers as 
Warton, Collier, and Ward, that the student cannot trust their 
conclusions, but must patiently gather his data for himself at first 
hand, and classify them as his conception of the mediaeval life of 
England becomes clearer. Gradually he will perceive that society 
in that day was a great stickler for tradition, that the custom found 
-in a given city in one century probably existed there in but slightly 
altered form in the next century, that the customs in a given city 
were many and various, and were, within certain limits, sharply 
defined and kept separate. England was, indeed, Merrie England in 
those days, but she went about her amusements as though they were 
very serious, and usually very thirsty, business. 

It would take me too far from my theme to attempt to describe all 
the shows and plays that formed part of a city's life for even one 
year. The royal entries, the ridings of different social or religious 
gilds, the church processions in which the laity took part with their 
pageants of tableaux, their giants and monsters, the plays in the 
churches, by the craft gilds, at the entertainment of notables, the 
setting of the watch, the May- day festivities, etc., if faithfully por- 
trayed for a single city, would till a thesis, and give a new and 
valuable picture of civic life. If to this we add the direct literary 
influence of France upon the nobility and court society of England 
at a time when England and a large part of France were politically 
one, the subject of amusements in mediaeval England assumes vast 
proportions and becomes exceedingly intricate. As a result, writers 
upon this subject have failed to observe distinctions that were clear 

1 Collier says that In 1502 pageant was onlj' another name for a play. 



84 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

to the people of that day, and, still further misled by the frequent 
use of a single favorite name for different species of amusements, 
have included in their discussion of mystery plays' much that was 
but indii-ectly related to the matter in hand. It becomes, then, our 
task to attempt to disentangle some threads, and to segregate the 
plays of the craft gilds which were presented on movable scaffolds, 
or pageants, from the multitude of similar but not closely connected 
phenomena. 

I. The Pay and the Gild of Parish Clerics in London. 

We have noted in France the rise of the Puy, and its position as a 
cultivator of the mj^stery. England at this time contained many 
French ecclesiastics, and it would not be surprising if we found, 
where sufficient numbers were congregated, something similar to the 
French Puj^ on English soil. The following points of similarity 
seem to me to establish at least a strong presumption in favor of 
kinship between the Puy and tbe Gild of Parish Clerks in London. 

These are characteristics of the Puy : 

1. Date, the eleventh and twelfth centuries. 

2. In the thirteenth century admitted laj^ members. 

3. In the thirteenth century cultivated the mystery.^ 

4. In the fifteenth century abandoned the mystery. 

5. Was dedicated to the Virgin. 

6. Object, the cultivation of literature, probably mu^ic also, and 

sometimes bad philanthropic features. 
T. Most numerous in the West and North of France. 

8. Often formed of parish clerks with or without lay members.* 

9. Sometimes given to playing in honor of Saint Nicholas.^ 

These are the characteristics of the Gild of Parish Clerks : 

1. Incorporated as a gild by Henry III about 1240.^ 

2. Formed of ecclesiastics and lay members.^ 

3. Object, the cultivation of church music and literature.^ It had, 

also, philanthropic features. ° 



1 Collier, vol. 1, p. 52, considers what was probably a French shepherd play presented 
before the Queen, a French woman, a mystei-y pla5'. 

2 The Miracles de Notre Dame in the fourteenth century were the work of a Puy.— 
Julleville, vol. 1, p. 120. 

8 The Puy de I'Assomption at Douai was formed about 13.30 under the name of the 
Confr^rie des Clercs Parisiens, called 'clercs parisieus' because they spoke French.— 
Julleville, vol. 1, p. 119. 

4 As the Saint Nicholas of Jean Bodel of the Puy d'Ari-as.— Julleville, La Comedie, p. 27. 

e Hone, p. 208. e Survey of London, ed. 1842, p. 64. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 85 

4. Dedicated to Saint Nicholas.* 

5. Played 'Stationary plays at Skinner's Well." 

6. In 1390 a three days' play at Skinner's Well.' 

7. In 1409 an eight days' play at Skinner's Well. 

8. Plays attended by most of the nobles and gentry of England. 

9. In 1554, feast at Guildhall College, with singing, playing, and 

the next day a great procession.* 

Among the points to be considered are the following : 

I. The social or religious gilds of England are, in general, a 
century later in origin. Thus, to cite a few illustrations — 

1327. Fraternit}^ of Corpus Christi in Skinner's Company in London.' 

1348. The Gild of Corpus Christi at Coventry," 

1358. The Gild of Corpus Christi at Kingston-upon-Hull.' 

1355. The Gild of St. Mary at Beverly." 

1378. The Gild of St. Elene at Beverly." 

II. Their plays followed continental, not English, traditions. 

a. They were stationary plays as were all the plays of France. 

b. They continued three and eight days, as did the continental plays, 
e. They were especially patronized by the nobility. 

One might venture to say that they were probably in the French 
language. 

III. The most marked discrepancy is that touching the patron 
saint. On the continent the Virgin seems to have been universally 
adopted, but the Puys later did not hesitate to write in honor of 
St. Nicholas, and, finally, after the opening of the fifteenth century, 
to cultivate profane poetry. 

II. The Royal Entry. 

Nothing illusti-ates better the community of custom and literary 
standards among the nobility of England and France than the cere- 
monies observed when the King, or a high church or state official, 
entered a city. Indeed, we need not limit our study to England and 
France, as the same customs obtained in the Netherlands and in 
Scotland. Two elements of the royal entry concern us here, the 
pageants and the 'riding.' 

I Hone, p. 208. 2 Survey of London, p. 7 ; given as 1391, p. 36. 

3 Survey of London, p. 143 ; given as 1490 by Hone, and 1407 by Pollard. 

4 Strype, vol. 3, chap. 13, p. 131 ; given as 1651 by Hone. 

5 Herbert, vol. 3, p. 299. e English Gilds, p. 232. 7 English Gilds, p. 161. 
8 English Gilds, p. 149. s English Gilds, p. 148. 



86 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

These pageants were originally stationary, mute mysteries, placed 
upon stages of elaborate construction along the route which the 
King would take within the city. That these show^s should be sta- 
tionary is reasonable, since in such case the King and his retinue 
need be detained no longer than they Avished. That they should be 
mute, though usually indulging in pantomimic action, is more 
strange, but of the fact there is abundant evidence. It will aid us 
to understand the progress from pure mystery to allegory, if w^e con- 
sider somewhat at length these mute mysteries. 

1313. A mute play of the history of Jesus Christ from Nativity 
to Passion w^as exhibited at Paris before Edward II and his Avife 
Isabella.' 

1377. At the coronation of Richard II, a castle was erected by 
the goldsmiths on Cheapside. Of the pageants exhibited tAvo are 
described by Herbert.^ 

1420, Dec. 1st. In the entry of Charles VI and Henry V into 
Paris, a mute mystery, consisting of stationary pageants represent- 
ing a connected story, the Passion of our Savior, was shown, — a 
bas-relief of liA'ing figures counterfeiting a bas-relief of stone.' 

1424, Sept. 8th. The pageant at the entry of the Duke of Beau- 
fort into Paris Avas described by an eye-witness in these Avords : 

" DcA^ant le Chastelet, avoit ung moult bel mystere du Vieil testa- 
ment, et du Nouvel, que les enffens de Paris firent ; et fut fait sans 
parier ne sans signer, comme ce feussent ymaiges enlevez contre ung 
mur, 

1430. At the entr}^ of IIenr37^ VI into London there were many 
stationary pageants, some with verses attached and some where per- 
sonages spoke.' 

We have passed over a century, recording here and there one of 
the royal entries. All are alike, stationary, mute, and representa- 
tions of some portion of the Bible story. I find earlier a curious 
exception, as though uniformity of custom had not established itself 
prior to 1300. 

1293. To Avelcome EdAvard I upon his return from Scotland, the 
London Gilds held a procession, with Avhat appears to have been 
moving pageants indicative of trade.' But very early in the four- 
teenth century the type became fixed, and Ave find little variation 
until the time of Henry VI. 

Before 1430 the pageants had been taken from the Bible story, 
and were easily recognized by all in their conventionalized form, 



1 Julleville, vol. 2, p. 188. 2 Herbert, vol. 2, pp. 217, 231. 3 Julleville, vol. 2, p. 189. 
* Julleville, vol. a, p. 190. s Fubyan, pp. 003-7. e Herbert, vol. 1, p. 89. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 87 

but now we find that other subjects are crowding in, breaking the 
sequence of the story, and rendering some designation necessary to 
interpret them to the beholder ; for this reason verses were attached. 
But when the necessity of choosing a Biblical theme was no longer 
present, the artist naturally selected some subject that would be 
complimentary to the high personage in whose honor the pageant 
was set up. Affixed verses he could not easily read, so the compli- 
mentary address to the King arose, or a laudatory conversation was 
carried on between actors. This is approaching very near to the 
borders of the spoken drama, but I have found no instance of royal 
entry where a genuine, spoken drama was acted. Further, it would 
seem that this development of the pageant arose earlier in England 
than in France, 

1431, Dec. 2. Of the entrj^ of Henry VI of England into Paris 
this description is given : 

"Depuis le poncelet en tirant vers la seconde porte de la rue Saint 
Denis avoit personnages, sans parler, de la nativite Notre Dame, de 
son mariage et de I'adoration des trois Rois, des Innocents' et du 
bonhomme qui semoit son ble." 

1432. Entry of Henry VI into London after his coronation at 
Paris. Allegorical pageants with verses by Lydgate.^ 

1445. Entry of Queen Margaret into London. Seven pageants 
with verses by John Lydgate.^ 

1461, Aug. 31. Entry of Louis IX into Paris, — "y avoit une 
passion par personnages et sans parler, Dieu estendu en la croix, et 
les deux larrous a dextre et a sinistre.' 

1461, SeJ)t. 20. Entry of Louis IX into Orleans. Twelve pa- 
geants, stationary, laborers, moral virtues, David and Goliath,' etc. 

1498, July 2. Entry of Louis XII into Paris. All the pageants 
were allegorical except those of the Confreres de la Passion who 
presented The Trinity, Abraham's Sacrifice, and the Crucifixion.* 

So, fifty years after London, Paris bows to the popular demand 
for allegory. 

1514, Nov. 6. Entry of Mary of England into Paris. 

1515, Feb. 15. Entry of Francis I into Paris. 

1517, May 12. Entry of the Queen into Paris. In these three the 
subjects were allegorical.* 

1521. Entry of the Emperor, Charles V, into London. 

1 Julleville, vol. 2, p. 191, quoting Eng-uerrand de Monstrelet. 

2 Fabyan, p. 603, fol. 190. s Stow, p. 385. * Julleville, vol. 2, p. 196. 
5 Julleville, vol. 2, p. 201. 6 Julleville, vol. 2, pp. 205-6. 



88 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

The London Drapers resolved to have no Midsummer pageant, 
because there were so many pageants ready standing for the Empe- 
ror's coming into London, but they afterwards agreed to renew the 
old pageants and to establish a new one of the Golden Flees, also to 
bring out their giant, Lord Moryspys,' and to present a morys dance/ 

This item furnishes us one clue to the absence of plays by the 
craft guilds of London. The royal entries called for frequent and 
costly pageants from the gilds. These pageants were preserved, and 
refurbished when occasion demanded them. A cursory reading of 
the gild accounts shows that the pageants and ridings wex-e felt as a 
heavy tax,' though a necessary one, and make it reasonable that the 
gilds, having these pageants on hand, should be reluctant to build 
movable pageants also for Corpus Christi and other religious or civic 
festivities. They accordingly used their stationary pageants, as the 
Drapers did in the Midsummer festival. ^ 

1577. Visit of thfe Prince of Orange to Ghent. Tableaux vivants, 
allegorical, with address to the Prince.* 

1578, Jan 18. Entry of Governor-General Matthias into Brussels. 
Tableaux vivants, allegorical, stationary.^ 

1595. Entry of the Archduke Ernest into Antwerp. Allegorical 
pageants." 

The pageants of these three entries mark the decay of pageantr3^ 
After the allegorical and complimentary pageant had established 
itself, there naturally followed on the part of the artists a straining 
for striking effects and quaint conceits. All sense of unity was lost, 
and mysterious or grotesque representations, that would make the 
vulgar gape, became the fashion. The custom had become absurd, 
and was out of place in the new life that was stirring the hearts of 
men. Our latest item knits the old to the new. 

1603. Entry of James I into London. Ben Jonson's j^ageant 50 
feet high and 50 feet long, a representation of the city of London, 
with verses attached.' 



1 These giants were a necessary adjunct to a display. They were sometimes station- 
ary, more often movable. Gog-magog and Corinasus, otherwise called Gog and Magog, 
now at Guildhall, are relics of the olden time.— Hone, pp. 362-370 ; also Magnin, p. 61; also 
Fabyn, p. 603. 

2 Herbert, vol. 1, p. 455. 

3 Canterbury, as a halting place en route for the continent, would have suffered a 
heavy tax for pageantry, but avoided it by entertaining outside the city walls,— in a 
booth erected for the purpose and stocked with victuals and liquors if the halt were 
for refreshment, in a monastery if a night's lodging were desired. See Ninth Report of 
the Royal Commission on Historical MSS. 

■» Motley, vol. 3, p. 295. s Motley, vol, 3, p. 305. 

6 Sharp, a cut of a pageant is given, pp. 24, 25. ' Sharp, p. 4. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 89 

We close with a description of a royal entry, Queen Margaret's 
entry into Aberdeen in ]511, as given in Dunbar's 'The Queine's 
Reception at Aberdeen.' 

1. The burgesses ride out to meet her — 

Aud first Hir mett the burgess of the toun, 

Ricbelie arrayit as become thame to be, 
Of quhom they chesit four men of renoun, 

In g-ounes of velvot, young-, abill, aud lustie, 
To beir the paill of velvet cramase, 

A\)ove Hir held, as the custome hes bein. 

2. The Procession meets her at the gate. 

Ane fair processioun mett hir at the Port, 
In cap of gold and silk, full pleasantlie. 

3. In the first streets were many pageants. 

Syne at hir Entrie, with many fair disport. 
Ressavit hir on streittis lustilie. 

{a) The Salutation. 

Quhair first the Salutation honorabilly 

Of the sweitt Virgin, guidlie mj-cht be seiue ; 
The sound of menstrallis blowing to the skj\ 

{b) The Magi ; The Three Kings of Culane. 

And syne thow gart the Orient Kiugis thrie 

Offer to Chryst, with beuying reverence, 
Gold, sence, and mir, with all humilitie, 

Schawand him King with most magnificence. 

(c) The Exjjitlsion from Eden. 

Sj'ne quhow the Anglll, with sword of violence, 

Furth of the joy of Paradice putt clein 
Adame and Eve for innobedience. 

[d) The giant Emperor, Bruce. 

And syne the Bruce, that evir was bold in stour, 
Thou gart as Roy cum rydand under croun. 

Right awfull, Strang, and large of portratour, 
As nobill, dreidfull, michtie camploun. 



(e) The Stewarts. 

The (nobill Stewarts) syne, of great renoun, 

Thow gart upspring, with branches new and greine, 
So gloriouslie, quhill glaided all the toun. 

4. After the pageants twenty-four maidens singing. 
The matter is summed up in — 

The streittis war all hung with tapestrie, 

Great was the press of peopill dwelt about, 
And pleasant padyheanes playlt prattelie. 

The connection of the tableaux of pageantry with mediaeval paint- 
ing and sculpture would form an interesting and fruitful investiga- 
tion, but would carry us too far afield. 

Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 



90 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Flays. 

For the ' ridings ' a word will suffice. As the burghers of Aber- 
deen met Queen Margaret without the city walls, so selected mem- 
bei's of each gild in other cities went out wearing their liveries and 
bearing their banners,' and, riding two and two, escorted the king or 
other dignitary into the city and over the designated route to the 
palace where he was to lodge. 

The Processions. 

The Christian church probably held processions from the first 
century.' These multiplied in the Middle Ages and modified greatly 
many other customs. Thus the royal riding and the procession 
simulated each other, and were sometimes combined especially in 
England in the Procession of St. George.^ Indeed, in many places 
this ceremony was known as 'Riding the George.'^ Many proces- 
sions after the thirteenth century contained one or more pageants. 
These wei'e carried on moving pageant wagons, but sometimes, in 
place of the pageant, groups^ afoot personated characters. Of mov- 
ing pageants the best illustrations are afforded by the Lord Mayor's 
Show in London. Thus, the pageant of the Assumption was borne 
before the new Lord Mayor from the Tower to Guildhall,' and later, 
when allegorical devices were in vogue, many elaborate pageants 
were devised, of which the descriptions have been preserved.' Of 
those where individuals walking personated characters, we notice 
the Whit-Monday procession at Leicester, where the Virgin Mary 
was carried as a pageant and the twelve apostles walked,* and the 
pageant groups at Aberdeen." The pageantry was sometimes very 
elaborate, as at Dublin in the Procession of St. George," which pre- 
sented the Emperor and Empress attended by two doctors, two 
knights and two maidens ; St. George who received three shillings 



1 Herbert, (a) Theigilds of London bore banners of trade at the coronation of Henry 
IV, 1399, vol. 1, p. 90. 

(b) The order of gilds of London in royal entries, vol. 1, pp. 101-2. 

(c) A cut of the procession, vol. 1, p. 129. 

(d) The citizens of London met the king at Blacklieath, vol. 1, p. 91. 

2 The procession was greatly developed by St. John Chrysostom. 

3 The Gild of St. George, Norwich, had a pageant with a 'riding' in procession.— 
English Gilds, p. 447. 

i As at Leicester, Kelly, p. 38. 

s These groups oftentimes contained beasts of wondrous shape, formed of hoops and 
canvas or wicker-work. e Herbert, vol. 1, p. 457. 

' There are in print thirteen pageants of the Drapers, eleven of the Grocers, and 
many produced by the other companies during the years from 1588-1G91. They bear the 
names of Thomas Middleton, Thomas Jor<lan, Thomas Heywood, etc., as authors.— Her- 
bert, pp. 334, 459-61. 

8 Kelly, p. 7. » See p. 98. lo Hist, of Dublin, vol. 1, p. 109. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 91 

four pence foi' bis labor ; standard, pole-ax, and swoi-ds for the Em- 
peror and St. George ; then a maiden who led the dragon by a 
golden line ; four trumpets ; the King and Queen of Dele, accom- 
panied by two knights and two maidens in black.' 

in. 7%e Co)'2nis Christi Procession. 

The most splendid of all the church processions was the Proces- 
sion of Corpus Christi, out of which grew in many cases" the craft- 
gild plays. The church fast of Corpits Christi was instituted by 
Pope Urban IV about the middle of the thirteenth century, 1264, 
and appointed for the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday. It was 
endorsed by the Council of Vienne in i;U8, and was soon celebrated 
with great pomp throughout Western Europe. Its office consisted of 
hymns, anthems, responses, etc., taken from the figurative portions 
of the Old Testament, and selected, or, at least, digested into form 
by Thomas Aquinas. From the first the leading feature of the 
celebration was the procession of the ecclesiastics and laity, in 
which all civic bodies took part, with tapers, banners, shields of 
the gilds, and after a time with pageant-tableaux and individuals 
personating characters at first Biblical, later oftentimes legendary. 
In the procession the lay societies preceded the host, which was 
followed by the ecclesiastics.' The position next to the host was 
the place of honor, and we read of many disputes among the gilds 
about their relative positions.^ This order of the gilds is a matter 
of importance to us, as the earliest order of the gilds in the craft- 
gild plays was doubtless the same as in the procession. Thus in 
many towns the Mercers, as the most powerful gild, marched next 
the host — so in York and Coventry — and the Mercers stand last in 
the York plays. 

1 The Gild of St. Elene at Beverly, founded 1378, carried a youth clad as St. Elene. 
An old man preceded him carrying- a cross, and one followed bearing- a shovel. The 
Gild of St. Mary at Beverly, founded 1355, carried in procession on the feast of the 
Purification a pageant of the Virg-in with what seemed a son in her arms. Joseph and 
Simeon accompanied her, with two angels carrying a candle-bearer of twentj^-four 
lights.— English Gilds, pp. 148, 149. 

2 At York and Coventry, the Chester plays were connected with the Whit-Monday 
procession. 

3 Sharp, p. 165. The oi-der was, however, reversed at York.— Davies, York Records of 
the XVth century, p. 247 ; also in Skinner's Pi-ocession, p. 69. 

* 1538, June 21. In records of Aberdeen complaint of hammermen that others usurp 
their place in the Corpus Christi procession.— Records of Aberdeen, p. 452. 

1554. Another complaint bj^ the same. p. 457. 

See the quarrel between the Weavers and Cordwainers of York. The Cordwainers 
refused to march on the left of the Weavers. This difference was a matter of some 
yeai-s' standing, and the Coi-dwainers submitted only under the pressure of a heavy fine 
and the threatened interference of the king.— Davies, pp. 250-7. 



92 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

At first, |3resence in the procession may have been considered 
evidence of acceptance of the dogma of transnbstantiation,' to 
which, as we have seen, the rise of the liturgical play was due ;" 
but later the spontaneous expressions of piety did not satisfy the 
desire for a splendid procession. Accordingly in the fourteenth 
century the Gilds of Corpus Christi arose, which took the procession 
under their special care. These gilds did not usually foster plays, 
and were indeed in some cases necessary to preserve the splendor 
of the procession after the popular interest had turned from the 
procession to the plays.' 

How early pageant-tableaux were introduced it is impossible at 
present to state,^ but it must have been at an earl}^ date and in close 
connection with the royal entry. The body of Christ received in a 
sense royal honors, and it ma}^ be that at first stationary pageants, 
a marked tribute to royalty, were sometimes used. It seems evident 
that movable pageants were carried by the gild in connection with 
the gild banner, and usuall}^ bore the insignia or arms of the gild ; 
also that at first they presented a connected Biblical story, but after- 
wards passed through nearly the same developmental stages as did 
the pageants of the royal entry. These changes, like those of the 
royal entry, were in the main the same throughout Western Europe, 
although the intrusion of the civic element doubtless contributed to 
local variations. The records do not enable us to trace these changes 
so clearly as in the royal entry, but certain evidences are found. 

1437. The village of Draguignan gave a florin to the manager of the procession, "A 
cause du jeu que chaque annee 11 a coutume de faire il faire a la fete du corps du 
Christ, et qu'il ne peut faire sans aucun subside." 

Similar entries in the records of the village occur until 1558, May 
8, when the following explanatory note is found : 

" Le dit jeu jora avec la procession comme auparadvant et le plus d'istoeres et plus 
brieves que puront estre seront et se dira tout en cherainant sans ce que per.sonne du 
jeu s'areste pour eviter prolixite et confusion tant de ladite procession que jeu et que 
les estrangiers le voient aisement."6 

This attempt to talk while walking could hardly have been a suc- 
cess. The spoken play was probably oratorical rather than dramatic. 
These so-called plays were maintained until 1615. There are records 
of similar exhibitions at Bethune from 1544. In the 'remonstrance' 
of 1549 there is a list of the tableaux, showing the participation of 



J English Gilds, p. LXXXV. 2 See p. 13. 

3 As at York, though so great was the passion for plays that the Gild presented one, 
the Creed play, once in ten years. 

4 Davies, p. 228. » Julleville, vol. 3, p. 209. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays, 93 

the trades, and fiirnisbing conclusive evidence that these were not 
spoken plays, but mute, whether with or without action I cannot de- 
termine/ 

Early in the fourteenth century gilds of Corpixs Christi began to 
rise in England. The fraternity of Corpus Christi of the Skinners 
of London dates from 1327. 

" This fraternity bad also once every year, on Corpus Ciiristi day afternoon, a proces- 
sion which passed through the principal streets of the city, wherein was borne more 
than one hundred torches of wax (costly garnished) burning light, and above two hun- 
dred clerks and priests, in surplices and capes, singing. After the which were the sher- 
iff's servants, the clerks of the compters, chaplains for the sheriffs, the mayor's sergeants, 
the counsel of the city, the mayor and aldermen in scarlet, and then the Skinners in their 
best liveries."3 

1348. The Gild of Corpus Christi at Coventry was instituted. It was to carry eight 
torches about the body of Christ in procession.3 

1349-50. The Gild of Corpus Christi of Leicester, which contributed to the most splen- 
did procession in the city except that of St. George.* 

1408. The Gild of Corpus Christi at York, which, after the separation of procession 
and plays in 1426, became responsible for the procession. 

Before 1349. The Gild of Corpus Christi at Cambridge, which held a procession with 
pixies and shields until 1535, when Dr. Leigh, deputy to Lord Cromwell, ordered it abro- 
gated. s 

As at York so at Coventry, it became necessary to separate the 
procession from the plays. At Yox"k this was done by appointing 
the vigil of Corpus Christi* for the plays ; at Coventry by bringing 
the procession early \n the morning.' 

It seems, then, that shortly after tlie confirmation of Corpus 
Christi in 1318 pageants of the Biblical story were introduced in 
conjunction with the banners of the crafts. These at first were, 
mute mysteries expressed by action. In a short time, however, 
spoken drama, found also in isolated cases in France, became an 
established custom in England. A spoken drama necessitated fre- 
quent halts by the procession, as it was impossible to act satisfactorily 
in motion. Indeed, connected pantomimic action would seem im- 
possible in a moving procession ; therefore this custom may be 
older than the spoken drama. These halts prolonged the procession 
beyond reasonable limit, and were avoided by transferring the pa- 
geants to the rear of the procession. A division of the procession 
immediately arose through the slower movement of the pageants, 
but the plays, though much belated, followed the traditional course 

1 Cp. p. 98. 2 Survey of London, p. 8", s English Gilds, p. 233. 

4 Kelly, p. 36. s Masters, p. 80. 

6 The citizens, however, continued to hold their plays on Corpus Christi day, and the 
clergy were compelled to postpone the procession until the morrow.— Davies, p. 244. 

■! The description of the Corpus Christi procession as given in the Popish Kingdom 
illustrates the demoralization of the pageantry.— Sharp, p. IVO. 



94 Charles Da'jidson — English Mystery Plays. 

of the procession through the city. Such seems to be a reasonable 
interpretation of the facts as presented by the records. 

The Prevalence of Craft Cycles. 

To the student of records it soon becomes evident that the gilds 
considered their plays a great financial burden, though one that was 
usually borne willingly. The account books contain frequent items 
of expenditure for the plays ; the regulations provide for the pay- 
ment of pageant money by every member of the gild. These plays 
were a matter of moment also to the city authorities, whose records 
abound in regulations concerning them, penalties to be laid upon 
every craft, owning or contributing to a pageant, that does not 
faithfully discharge its trust. Repeated Ij^ they are said to be to the 
city's honor and profit, showing that the authorities were not un- 
conscious of the advantage to trade arising from the influx of 
strangers. Frequently, especially at York, a gild that has become 
weak is released from the charge of a pageant, and made contribu- 
tory to one according to its ability. So numerous are the references 
to the plays in the records of city and gild that I cannot but think 
that silence on the part of the records in any city is proof that such 
plays Avere not maintained in that city. 

It is necessar}' for an understanding of the mutual relationships 
of these cycles of plays to segregate the gild plays from the multi- 
tude of occasional plays and processional shows with which the time 
abounded. Fortunatel}', the task of cataloguing the towns that 
maintained such plays is greatly lightened by a list formed by Miss 
Lucy Toulmin Smith and published in her edition of York Plays,' 
and reprinted by F. H. Stoddard." This list may include all the 
towns, though Ave do not know Avhat further study of town records 
may bring to light. It surely contains manj'^ phiys that are not 
gild plays, and it becomes necessary by a process of elimination to 
determine what are true craft plays. 

1 pp. LXIV-LXVIII. 2 Stoddard. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



95 



NOTES ON THE PUBLISHED LIST OF PLAYS. 

I. "Aberdeen, 1442-1531. [Candlemas play, Offerand of Our Lady; also Corpus 
Christi play, 9, 7, 10 pageants named.] 

1440, May 13. Notice of appointment of one Richard Klntor,» Abbot of Bon-Accord, 
and notice of play of Halyblude at Wyndmylhill.2 

1442. Thir craftes underwritten sal find yearly in ye offerand of our Lady at Candle- 
mas thir personnes underwritten, yat is to say :— 



1442. Aberdeen Pageants,^ 

The Littistaris sal fynd, 

The Empriour and twa Doctouris and als- 

mony honeste Squiares as thai may. 

The Smythis and Hamermen sal fynd. 
The Thi-ee Kingis of Culane and alsmony 
honeste Squiares as thai may. 

The Talsoures sal fynd. 

Our Lady, Sancte Bride, Sancte Helene, 

Joseph and alsmony Squiares as thai may. 

The Skj-nnares sal fynd 

Twa Bischopes, four Angels, and alsmony 

honeste Squiares as they may. 



.The Wobstares and Walkares sal fynd 
Symion and his disciples and alsmony hon- 
este Squiares, etc. 
The Cordonares sal fynd 
The Messyngear and Moyses and alsmony 
honeste Squiares, etc. 
The Fleschowares sal fynd 
Twa or four Wodmen and alsmony honeste 
Squiares. 

The Brethren of the Glide sal fynd 
The Knyghtes in harnace and Squiares hon- 
estly arait, etc. 
The Baxtaris sal fynd 
The Menstrals and alsmonj^ honeste 
Squiai'es, etc. 



1549. Bethune Pageants.^ 

Lingiers. L'Annonciation, 2 personnes. 
Viessiers. La Visitation, 2 personnes. 
Tanneurs, cordouaniers. LaNativite, 5 per- 
sonnes, Les trois Roi.Y, 6 personnes. 
Chavettiers. Les Innocents, 12 personnes. 
Parmentiers. Purification, 7 personnes. 
Marchands et crocqueteurs de grte. 
Tentation, 6 personnes. 
Marchands de ble. Entree a Jerusalem, 16 
personnes. 

Di'apiers. Resurrection du Lazaire, 8 per- 
sonnes. 

Confreres de Dieu et Mgr. Saint Jacques 
La Chesne, 13 personnes. 
Voiaige de Emailx. 

Barbiers. Jardin d'olivier, 8 personnes. 
Porteurs au sac. Prise de Jesus, 30 per- 
sonnes. Dieu portaut sa croix, 20 personnes. 

Cordiers, cailliers. Comment N-S. fut mene 
devant Anne, 5 personnes. 
Dechargeurs. Les deuiers que Judas re^eut, 
5 personnes. 

Bouchyers. Comment Judas se pendit. 
Jesus mene devant Caiphe, et Herode, 16 
personnes. 

Eeronniers. candreliers, maricaulx esta- 
miers, orphevres. Comment Dieu fut 
battu a Testacq, 12 personnes. 
Taverniers, brasseurs. Ecce homo. Pilate 
lavant ses mains, 12 personnes. 
Merchiers, julliers. Comment Jesus fut 
cloie a la croix, 18 personnes. Ysaulde for- 
geant les cloux Dieu, 2 personnes. 
Tainturiers, satiniers. Cruciflment, a plus- 
ieurs personnes. 

Ceulx de la poterne. Le Limbe, 7 per- 
sonnes. 



1 Merchant and Craft Guilds, p. 49. 

2 On Corpus Christi day the procession was under the direction of the Abbot of Bon- 
Accord, later under that of Robin Hood. A fusion of May-day and Corpus Christi 
seems probable. Wyndmylhill, later Womanhill, seems to have been a play-field like 
that at Edinburgh. 

3 Julleville, vol. 2, pp. 212-13. 

4 Records of Aberdeen, p. 432 ; also, Merchant and Craft Guilds, p. 49. 



96 Charles. Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

1442. Aberdeen Pageants, 1549. Bethune Pageants. 

■ Poissoniers. Descente de la crdix, 8 per- 
sonnes. 

Hugiers, marchands de bois, cuveliers. Le 
sepulcre, 8 peraonnes. 
Foullons, tistran de drap, pareui-s de laine. 
La Resurrection, 5 personnes. 
Fourniers. Les trois Maries et I'Ang-e. 
Jesus en conforme de uag- jardinier, 4 per- 
sonnes. 

Compaignons du pourpoin. 
La remonstrance des Patouriaux, 5 per- 
sonnes. 

Tappiers de velours, tisserans de toille. 
L'incredulite de saint Thomas, 12 personnes. 
Paintres. Les quatre Evangelistes, et saint 
Jerosme. 

Wantiers, marcliands de laine. Le Juge- 
ment a plusieurs pei'sonnes. 

A comparison of "the Aberdeen pageants with those of Bethune 
reveals instantly a kinship, yet the Bethune pageants were a 
' myst^re mime,' We are forced to conclude that French influ- 
ence was exerted in the cities of Scotland upon their plays as well 
as upon their municipal government, for there can be no doubt that 
this French series of tableaux is a direct descendant of those that 
antedate the tableaux of Aberdeen, and that the Aberdeen pageants 
have their direct antecedents in France and not in England.' It is 
stated that there were at Bethune twenty-eight pageant wagons. It 
is probable that the pageant of the Fleshers of Aberdeen and the 
succeeding ones were not carried ; the remainder Avere, as we read 
(1531) "and tua of ilke craft to pass with the pageant that thair 
furnyss to keip thair geir."^ 

In these processional tableaux we have evidence of the intrusion 
of allegory, as in the royal entry.' The Bethune series is still a 
cycle of mysteries, but in the Aberdeen inlays, although more than 
a century older, the tableaux no longer have any connection, and we 
tind, a century later, that a representation of the legends of the 
saints has almost excluded Biblical themes. 

1531, May 23. The craftis are chargit to furneiss thair panzeanis vnder written :— 
The flescharis, Sanct Bestian and his Tormentouris. 
The barbouris, Sanct Lowrance and his Tormentouris. 
The sljynnaris, Sanct Stewin and his Tormentouris. 
The cordinaris, Sanct Martyne. 

1 A curious survival of Candlemas pageantry in Yorkshire is found in the Bishop 
Blaize Festival. At Bradford in 1825 the procession contained a King, Queen, Jason, 
Princess Medea, Bishop Blaize and chaplain, and shepherds. The pageantry is supposed 
to refer to the woolen industry.— Old Yorkshire, vol. 2, pp. 151-4. 

4 Records of Aberdeen, p. 433. s Cp. p. 87. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 97 

The tailzeouris, the Coronatioun of our Lady. 

Litstaris, Sanct Nicholes. 

Wobstaris, walcaris, and bonet makaris, Saint John. 

Baxtaris, Sanct Georg-. 

Wrichtis, messonis, sclateris, and cuparis, The Resurrectioun. 

The sraithis and hammirmen to t'urneiss The Bearmen of the Croce.i 

The impossibility of forming a connected play out of these tableaux 
is sufficiently evident. Many other references to the procession 
might be given ; thus in 1484 the penalty of absenteeism was the 
loss of freedom for a year, i. e., the freedom of the craft, not per- 
sonal freedom; in 1531, the craft that failed to furnish its pageant 
must pay a fine of forty shillings. 

The order in procession was established by the city fathers and 
was apparently the same for every procession. The Candlemas and 
Corpus Christi processions are sometimes mentioned together, but 
the regulation of 1531 established beyond question that the pageants 
were for Candlemas. It seems that on Corpus Christi day after the 
procession a play was usually performed on Windmill-hill. The play 
is mentioned in a regulation of 1440 and again in 1479, but it prob- 
ably changed from year to year, and was under the care of the 
Abbot of Bon-Accord. It certainly was not the charge of the gilds. 

II. " Bassing-bourne, Carabridgeshire, 1511 (Play of St. George)". Players and musi- 
cians were secured in Cambridge. Labor and materials contributed by individuals and 
by twenty-seven neighboring villages.2 

III. Bethersden, Kent. 1523 (Ludi beatte Christinfe). Evidence not published. Prob- 
ably a church play. 

IV. Cambridge, about 13503 (Ludus Filiorum Israslis). A school play,-< pi-obably. 
William de Leune and Isabel his wife gave at their admission into the gild of Corpus 
Christi 20 s. 12 d. for alms, and expended in Ludo Filiorum Israelis half-a-mark. 

After 1544 there were many plays. In 1546 Jephtha was acted at 
Christmas. In 1564 Queen Elizabeth was present on Sunday,^ Aug. 
6, at a performance of Aukilaria, on Monday of Dido, on Tuesday of 
Ezechias, which was written by Nicholas Udall. School plays, even 
when on Biblical themes, ai"e an offshoot from the mystery play, and 
should be kept distinct. 

V. Canterbury, time of Heni-y IV (Play of Corpus Christi by the crafts). Evidence 
not at hand. Possible, but out of the district where such plays were in vogue. The lack 
of allusions to these plays is significant. 

1501-3 (Three Kyngs of Coleyn, on Twelfth Day).6 A special play in connection with 
a banquet at the Guildhall. Noteworthy for a description of horses constructed of can- 

1 Records of Aberdeen, p. 451. 

2 Sharp, p. 34 ; also Lyson's Magna Britannia, Cambridgeshire, p, 89 ; also for items. 
The Antiquary, vol. 7, 1883, p. 25. 

3 Not 1355, as given by Stoddard. 

4 Retrospective Review, vol. 12, pp. 7-11 ; Masters, vol. 1, p. 5. 

s Nichols, vol. 1, p. 186. 6 Ninth Report of Hist. MSS. Commission, p. 197. 



98 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

vas distended with hoops and laths and painted after nature, at a cost of three shillings. 
No'evidence that the play was ever repeated. 

VI. Dublin, loth century (cycle, 11 plays known; Corpus Christi). Pageants for 
Corpus Christi, Dublin. i 

1. Glovers. Adam and Eve with angel bearing sword before them. 

3. Corrisees (perhaps curriers). Cain and Abel with offering and altar. 

3. Mariners and vintners. Noah and the persons in the ark appareled as carpenters 
and salmon-takers. 

4. Weavers. Abraham and Isaac with oiTering and altar. 

5. Smiths. Pharaoh and his host, 

6. Skinners. Camels with children of Israel. 

7. Goldsmiths. King of Cullen. 

8. Hoopers. Shepherds with an angel singing Gloria in excelsis Deo. 

9. Corpus Christi gild. Christ in his passion with the Marys and angels. 

10. Taylors. Pilate with his fellowship, and his wife cloathed accordingly. 

11. Barbers. Anna and Caiaphas. 

12. Fishers. The Apostles. 

13. Merchants. The Prophets. 

14. Butchers. The Tormentors. 

A comparison of these pageants Avith those of Aberdeen and 
Bethune' reveals such striking similarities as comjsel us to pro- 
nounce them a series of mute pageants and not a cycle of spoken 
plays.* 

This series is much nearer the primitive type than that of Aber- 
deen, the only breaks in the story appearing in 13 and 14, and in 
the introduction of the cameP in 6. 

Furthermore, the allusions in the records to plays and Corpus 
Christi processions justify this conclusion. In 1541 the procession 
of Corj^us Christi was followed by the \)\&y of the Nine Worthies. 
We read of no cases where the genuine craft plays were so easily 
abandoned for a new play. It was no unusual thing, however, for 
the crafts to present plays on festival occasions and before notables. 
In 1528 certain crafts acted plays during Christmas week before 
certain high officials.* The plays were chosen for some supposed 
reference to the craft ; thus the taylors played Adam and Eve ; the 
shoe-makers, Crispin and Crispianus ; the vintners, Bacchus and his 
story ; the carpenters, Joseph and Mary ; the smiths, Vulcan and 
what related to him ; the bakers, a comedy of Ceres, the goddess of 
corn. The Priors of St. John of Jerusalem, of the Blessed Trinity, 
of All-Hallows, presented, the one the Passion of our Saviour, the 
others the several deaths which the Apostles suffered. It would 

1 Hist, of Dublin, vol. 1, p. 110. 

2 Cp. with the camel in the pageant show on Midsummer-eve at Chester.— Lyon's 
Magna Britannica, Cheshire, pp. 583-4. 

3 See p. 95. •" Vs. ten Brink, vol. 3, p. 290. 

6 This was possibly copied from some spoken mystery play, though I do not recall one 
that refers to the camel. e Hist, of Dublin, vol. 1, p. 108. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 99 

seem that the play which is extant, Abraham and Isaac, Avas such an 
isolated play, and not one of a cycle.' 

VII. Dunstable, 12th century (St. Catherin*^). A cloister-drama, probably in Latin. 
VIII. Edinburgh, 1503. A play by John English and his company, being the playei'S of 
the King of England, before James IV at his nuptials with the Princess Margaret at 
Edinburgh.2 The records saj'— 

Dec. 1554. The "litill farsche and play" made by William Lander to be performed 
before the Queen. ■! 

1558. Payment to AVilliam Adamsoau for a play made for the triumph of our sover- 
eign Lady's marriage. 

Payment to William Lamb for setting forth the play. 

Payment to all the writers who wrote the play. 

Pa5'ment to Patrick Doi'an for writing certain plajs.^ 

The Records of Edinburgh are remarkable for their silence con- 
cerning plays. In 1503 an ordinance in restraint of plays was passed, 
from which one infers that English innovations were not viewed 
wholly Avith approval. In 1554 the city built a play-field* at heavy 
expense, and there are several entries of that year relating to plays.* 
Plays, however, do not seem to have prospered in Edinburgh, and 
evidently the city had no craft plays. 

IX. "Gloucestershire, 16th century. At Christmas. A kind of miracle play with 
the characters of Herod, Belzebub, and others." Probably a mumming in character, 
surely no mystery play.' 

X. Heybridge, Essex, 1533, no data accessible. 

XI. Lancashire, 1809. A mumming similar to that of Gloucestershire. 
XII. Leicester, 1477 (Passion Play). A play presented by certain players who ac- 
counted to the city for receipts. The money and stage properties were devoted to the 
support of the processional pageants. s 

154&-1.571. Church plays at Church of St. Martin probably. The above appear to have 
been connected with the " Reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday." 9 

Thei-e were plays also at other churches. lo 

St. Mary's church, 1491. Paid to the players on New-Year's day at Even in the 
church, vi d. 

1499. Paid for a play in the church in Dominica infra octave Epiph., ii s. 

XIII. Lincoln, 15(54 (Play of Old Tobit). An occasional play, played at Broadgate in 
July. There is no sign that it was repeated.il 

XIV. London, 12th century (miracle plays). " London, instead of theatrical shows 
and scenic entertainments, has dramatic performances of a more sacred kind, either 
repi'esentations of the miracles which holy confessors have wrought, or of the passions 
and sufferings in which the constancy of martyrs was signally displayed." 12 

These were probably Latin plays in churches and cloisters. 

1 Modern Language Notes, vol. 7, No. 6, p. 339 ff. 

2 Collier, vol. 1, p. 39; also Warton, vol. 3, p. 395, note. 

3 Extracts from the Records of Edinburg, p. 306. 4 Dalzell. p. 32. 

5 Cp. with Windmillhill at Aberdeen, the play-field of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the 
plain for sports in Cornwall. 

6 Extracts from the Records of Edinburgh. 

' For text of a similar play, see Notices of Leicester, Wm. Kelly, p. 53. 
8 Kelly, p. 27. s Kelly, p. 23. 10 Kelly, p. 14. 

11 Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 54, p. 103. 12 Survey of London, p. 314. 



100 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

1390, July 18, 19, 20. Skinner's Well (Passion of our Lord and the Creation of the 
World). Played by the Parish-clerk gild.i Probably in French and closely modeled 
upon the plays of the Puys of France.s The King- contributed 10 ?.3 

1409, Skinner's Well, lasted eight days ('of matter from the creation of the world'). 
By the same g:ild. The eight days' duration a significant link to continental tradition, 
being the octave of a church holy day. Patronized as before by the nobility. 

These plays of the Parish clerks hold common traditions with the 
French plays, and should not be confounded with the other cycle 
plays of England. There were no craft-gild plays in London. The 
constant calls upon the gilds for stationary pageants for Royal 
Entries and for movable pageants for the Lord Mayor's Show, 
together with their many processions, seem to have made them 
averse to the additional expense of the craft-gild plays.^ 

1464. The Holy Trinity Gild, St. Botolph without Aldersgate, possessed a roll con- 
taining the pageants of the Holy Trinity, St. Fabyan, St. Sebastian, St. Botulf and 'the 
terement' (The Burial of Christ), 'paynted and lemenj-d with gold.'* These were in no 
sense mystery plays, but the roll contained a description and I'epresentation of the 
pageants which were carried in pi-ocession by the gild. 

1-557, June 7th, Grey Friars (Passion of Chi-ist). "The sam day be-gane a stage play at 
the Grey f i-eers of the Passyon of Cryst." 6 An attempt under Queen Mai-y to revive 
old customs. 

1557. Church in Silver Street, or Saint Olave's Day (Miraculous History of Saint 
Olave).' Played from 8 p. m. till 13 at night, four hours. A miracle play of the patron 
saint. An incident in the attempt of the lovers of the old customs to revive them under 
Queen Mary. 

1603. Elie House In Holborn (Christ's Passion). " Witnesse the acting of Christ's 
Passion at Elie house in Holborne when Gundemore lay there, on Good-Friday at night, 
at which there were thousands present." s 

XV. Northumberland, 1512 (Nativity and Resurrection). Plays in the Earl's chapel. 
The entries of the Household-Book are interesting as showing the prominence given to 
plays and the station and remuneration of players. The plays are examples of the 
multitude of occasional plays presented at that time throughout England. It seems 
that one qualification for my Lord's chaplain was that he "be a maker of Interludes." 9 

XVI. Paris, France, 1313. Special performance before Edward II of England. A 
myst^re mime.io If such are to be listed, there should be added : 

1420, Dec. 1st. At entry of Charles VI and Henry V. 
1424, Sept. 8th. At entry of the Duke of Beaufort. 
1431, Dec. 2nd. At enti-y of Henry VI, etc. 

XVIT. Reading, 1498-1557. Evidence not at hand. Evidently church plays such as 
were presented in every prominent chiu-ch in the kingdom. 

XVIII. Shrewsbury, 1574 (A stage-play acted in the High Street). A play by the 
players of the Earl of Esse.x.ii A study of those companies of players that were coinci- 

1 Survey of London, p. 7 ; Hone's Ancient Mysteries, p. 206. 2 See p. 85. 

3 Notices of Leicester, p. 29, referring to Devon's Issues of the Exchequer, p. 244. 

■1 It would seem that the entry in Stowe's Survey, p. 7,— "Other smaller wells were 
many near unto Clarkes well, namely. Skinner's well, so called for that the skinners of 
London held there certain plays yearly, played of Holy Scripture," etc.— were due to a 
confusion about the clerks' plays which Avere played at the skinners' well. I find no 
other I'eference to any plays by the skinners. 

6 Hone, p. ?L c Machyn's Diary, p. 138; Strype, vol. 3, part 2, p. 6. 

1 Strype, vol. 3, part 2, p. 6. 8 Prynne, Histrio-Mastix, p. 117. 

9 Percy, p. 139. lo Jullcville, vol. 2, p. 188 ; also, see p. 148. u Fosbroke, vol. 2, p. 665. 



Charles Davidson — JEnglish 3fystery Plays. 101 

dent with the decliue of the mystery play would be Instructive, but foreign to the study 
of the mj-stery. 

XIX. Sleaford, 1477. Gild of Holy Trinity (Three Kings of Cologne on Corpus 
Christ! day, and Play of the Ascension). Probably tableaux with explanatory speeches. 
Possibly full plays By the crafts. i 

XX. Tewkesbury, 1578, 1585. Probably church plays. 

XXI. Winchester, 1487. By alms boys (Chi-isti descensus ad inferos). Played by the 
choir-boj^s of Hyde Abbey and Saint Swithin's Priorj- before Henry VII on Sunday 
during dinner, on occasion of the birth of Prince Arthur.2 A cloister drama. 

XXII. Windsor, 1416 (St. George of Cappadocia).3 To entertain the Emperor Sigis- 
mund. Probably a dumb show. Belongs with the pageants and plays of St. George 
elsewhere exhibited. ^ 

XXIII. Witney, Oxfordshire, 16th centurj- (The Resurrection. A dumb show). A 
puppet show in the church. s The same authority refers to similar shows in St. Paul's. 
London. 

XXIV. York, Before 1384. (Our Lord's Praj'er). This play when first presented so 
commended itself to the inhabitants of York that a Gild of the Lord's Prayer was 
formed to maintain it. A play of the vices and virtues. The MS., delivered to Arch- 
bishop Grindal for criticism in 1572, disappeared. Played on movable pageant wagons. s 

XXV. York, 1446. (Creed Play). Given by the will of William Revetor, keeper of 
the Corpus Chr-isti Gild, to the gild with the condition that it should be publicly per- 
formed every tenth year in various parts of the citj-. A considerable play, since in 1535 
the gild plaj^s were omitted because of it. In 1,568 it was sent to Dean Hutton for exam- 
ination. He advised that it should not be played." Played on movable pageant wagons. 

XXVI. Kendall, Preston, and Lancaster. (Corpus Christi plays seen in the reign of 
James I). "They call this Corpus Christi Play in my countrey which I have seene acted 
at Preston, and Lancastei', and last of all at Kendall, in the beginning of the raigne of 
King James."s 

An anecdote by Rev. John Shaw, 16(J4, of a man sixty years old who saw once at 
Kendall a Corpus Christi play where there was a man on a tree and blood i-an down. 9 

XXVII. Cornwall, Queen Elizabeth's reign. (Guai-y myracle play). A cycle of three 
plays. Played in a circular plain prepared for the purpose.io 

XXVIII. Newcastle-on-Tyne, 142t>-1589. Plays undoubtedly older than 1426. Played 
in a fixed spot, not on movable pageant wagons.ii The pageants were, however, carried 
in procession to the place of acting. 

XXIX. Wymondham, 1549. "This was doone before Midsummer, and so it rested 
till the sixt of Julie, at which time there should be a publike plaie kept at Wimondham, 
a town distant from Norwich six miles, which plaie had beene accustomed yearelie to 
be kept in that towne continuing for the space of one night and one dale at least." 
Advantage was taken of the concourse of people to foment rebellion. 12 

The list as analyzed yield the following : — 

1. Cycle mystery plays by craft gilds, on movable pageant wagons, 
— Chester (IV), Coventry (Y), Worcester, and York. 

2. Cycle myster}^ plays by craft gilds, not on pageant Avagons, — 
Newcastle-on-Tyne (XXYIII), Woodkirk. 

1 Oliver, History of the Holy Trinity Guild at Sleaford. 

2 Warton, vol. 3, p. 394. 3 Collier, vol. 1, p. 20; Marriott, p. xxvi. 
i See p. 90. 5 Lambarde, p. 459. 

6 Toulrain Smith, p. 1.38 ; York Plays, pp. xxviii, xxix ; Davies, p. 265. 

7 Smith, p. xx.x : Davies, p. 258; Register of the Gild of Corpus Christi, p. 24. 

8 Weever's Funeral Monuments, as given by Sharp, p. 133. 

9 Halliwell-Phillipps, vol. 1, p. 48. 10 Cut of field, Borlase, p. 197. 

u Brand, vol. 2, pp. .369-379 ; also in the account of each craft. • 

12 Holinshead, vol. 3, p. 963. 



102 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

3. Cycle mystery plays by craft gilds, mode of presentation un- 
known, — Beverly. 

4. Possibly ayoAe mystery plays by craft gilds, — Sleaford (XIX) (?) 
Preston, Lancaster, Kendall (XXVI), Canterbury in time of Henry 
IV, Wymondham (XXIX). 

5. Cycle plays, not mystery, on pageant wagons, — York, Our 
Lord's Prayer (XXIV); York, Creed Play (XXV). 

6. Cycle mystery plays, not by craft gilds, — 

a. By literary society, — London by Parish clerks (XTV). 

h. By wandering troupe (?) — Coventry. 

c. By the parish and the priests, — Cornwall (XXVII). 

7. Single religious play by religious gild, — Sleaford (XIX). 

8. Single religious play in connection with church service, — Beth- 
ersden, Heybridge (X), Leicester, 1546-71 (XII), Reading (XVII), 
Tewksbury (XX). 

9. Plays in the chapels and castles of nobility, — Northumberland 
(XV). 

10. Puppet mystery, a form of church mute mystery, — Witney 
(XXIII). 

11. Occasional plays, mystery or otherwise, — Bassingbourne, Can- 
terbury, 1501-2, Edinburgh (VIII), Leicester, 1477 (XII), Lincoln 
(XIII), London, 1556, 1557, 1603 (XIV), Windsor (XXII). 

12. School or cloister dramas, — Cambridge, Dunstable (VII), Lon- 
don, 12th century (XIV), Winchester (XXI). 

18. Processional pageants, — Aberdeen, Dublin (VI), London by 
Holy Trinity Gild (XIV). 

14. Christmas mummings, — Gloucestershire (IX), Lancashire (XI). 

1 5. Royal entry,— Paris (XVI). 

16. Play by company under the protection of some noble, — 
Shrewsbury (XVIII). 



XVIIL 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN SEPTENAR 

STANZA. 

The English Mystery Plays present a bewildering variety of 
metres and stanzas. In this variety, however, it may be expected 
that individuality of authorship wall reveal itself, since a scribe is 
less likely to distort beyond recognition stanzaic structure than to 
destroy dialectal peculiarities in the changes of transcription. But 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 103 

a study of the prosody of the plays involves the discussion of nearly 
all the forms of Middle English metre. It seems best, therefore, to 
consider in brief the genesis of the leading types of English mediag- 
val metres. 

The Latin of the Middle Ages was the reservoir from which the 
Western literatures in common drew their metres. Within the cen- 
turies preceding the rise of national literatures, the Latin of the 
church had ceased to regard quantity, and had conformed to the 
vulgar dialects in placing the stress upon the root syllable. Conse- 
quently the monkish verse was an accentual verse, which, however, 
although regardless of quantity, still gave heed to the regular suc- 
cession of stressed and unstressed syllables. 

This verse xxnder the influence of accent assumed new characteris- 
tics. The metrical foot and the word became coincident, the line 
with feminine ending prevailed, rime arose, and because of the fre- 
quent occurrence of similar endings in Latin, that species of rime 
known to the French as ' entrelacee,' or ' lace,' where a succession of 
lines, mounting sometimes into the hundreds, have but one rime, be- 
came a famous metrical resource. 

The verse forms became fixed as types which were recognized as 
the proper vehicles of expression, each for a variety of literature. 
Thus the V-accent line, or septenar, was used in satirical or political 
poetry. Stanzaic formations, from which arose the 12-line stanza to 
which the English metrical romance writers were so partial, are 
found in church proses and Latin church mysteries. 

From these Latin metres directly, or through the medium of the 
French, arose the English metrical lines, which were, in general, of 
three varieties : the 7-accent line, or septenar, the 6-accent line, or 
Alexandrine, and the 4-accent line. These lines were combined in 
various ways to form stanzas ; sometimes a model already established 
in French or Latin was followed; sometimes a new stanzaic form, 
the product of national genius, was originated ; but in ultimate 
analysis each* stanza can be resolved into lines of the three types — 
the possible occurrence of a 5-accent line will be discussed later — 
unless it be a direct imitation of a less usual French or Latin type. 

The Latin septenar was cultivated in England. It was used for 
political poems from the time of King John, and probably earlier, 
and was the customary form for the goliardic poems which usually 
pass under the name of Walter Map. From this line and the stan- 
zaic structure arising therefrom, sprang, without the aid of French 
influence, as I think, the typical form of the septenar stanza in the 



104 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

poetry of the north of England. To this we will turn our attention 
first. 

In studying the English poetry of the septenar stanza, attention 
must be paid to the mode of publication, for the poetic form was 
closely molded to the known needs of utterance. In the North the 
gleeman was still welcome to the home of the franklin or the hut of 
the peasant. The tradition of the fathers had not been broken, as 
in the South, by the intrusion of the jongleur with the fashions and 
tales of France. We may believe that, harp in hand, the bard still 
recited the wai'like deeds of the fathers in the alliterative measures 
of the Old English, until the church poets furnished him with bal- 
lads and pious songs, formed, as we shall see, upon the Latin sep- 
tenar. These were sung with the accompaniment of the harp in a 
recitative delivery, imitated, it may be, in part from the rhythmic 
intonation of the church service. 

For such delivery the harp is preeminently the instrument. It is 
wholly responsive to the will of the reciter, who can heighten the 
accent of his lines, and even supply a rhythmic stress, whei'c the 
poet's art failed him, by a touch of the harp-string. A succession 
of light unstressed syllables can be run, or two stressed syllables in 
juxtaposition separated, by a slide of the voice, with the aid of the 
instrument. To poet and reciter alike the feet of classical metres 
w^ere unknown ; so long as the musical rhythm of the verse was 
maintained, he cared nothing for trochees or anapsests, and for this 
task the harp was his ablest coadjutor. 

The discussion here concerns itself directly with the septenar 
stanza of the ancient Bernicia, that district extending from the 
Humber through the Lowlands of Scotland. No position is taken 
regarding the scansion of later English metres, formed under the in- 
fluence of classical models, or dominated by French metrical sys- 
tems. The stanza was formed from a Latin measure that had cast 
off all the laws of the classics. Under the law of accent, subject 
only to the requirements of recitative delivery, it ran its career, as 
we shall see, from the regularity of the Latin sei)tenar to a lawless- 
ness that tolerated an excess of unstressed syllables so extreme that 
the voice of the reciter must needs find rest in irregular stresses. 

Indirectly, our contention touches also the metres whose district 
lies south of this, for the regularity of the Latin and French metres 
was corrupted through contact with the popular measure of the 
North. Indeed, it was this j^rinciple, best illustrated in the sep- 
tenar, that, through its sturdy resistance to the classicists of the 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 105 

Elizabethan age, compelled a compromise and saved our prosody 
from the level monotony of excessive uniformity of movement. 

However, it is sufficient for this discussion that the reader should 
abandon as futile all attempts to analyze into classical feet the Eng- 
lish verses which follow, and read them with natural stresses, run- 
ning the unstressed syllables as nearly as j^ossible in a recitative mono- 
tone. Semi-stresses occur, occasionally two semi-stresses take the 
place of a full stress, and often a slide or prolongation of a stressed 
syllable, or a caesura, is the only separation between two stressed 
syllables ; but these semi-stresses, for the sake of simplicity of pre- 
sentation, I have ignored, using only the breve and the macron for 
unstressed and stressed syllables respectively. 

Another agent in the formation of this stanza Avas alliteration, for 
which the poetic consciousness of the people still made its demands. 
The letter-rime, coinciding with the stress, heightened the accent, 
and rendered the unstressed syllables of still less importance. The 
old alliterative verse was very similar to the first half-verse of the 
7-accent line. The Northern poets took the septenar line in its 
stanzaic form and laid upon it the requirements of their ancient 
l^oetry, thus building for themselves a characteristic stanza, distinc- 
tive, as I believe, of the poets north of the Humber. 

It becomes necessary now for us to trace in siy^port of these prop- 
ositions the rise of the septenar stanza, and to note carefully the 
laws of its formation. Of the Latin septenar of the thirteenth cen- 
tury examples are abundant. It was the usual vehicle, as has been 
said, for political song and satire. 

Ex. 1, The Battle of Lewes. Middle of thirteenth century. 

Lines 1-4. 

Cdlamus velociter II scribe sic scribeutis, 

Lingua laudabiliter II te benedicentis, 

Dei patris dexterA II domine virtutem. 

Qui das tuis prospera II quando vis ad nutura : 

— \j — \j — u — II — »_/ — Kj — >-^ 

— \j cj o — ^M —^ o — ^1^ - ^ 



■ II «J c 



a a b b etc. 

Characteristics : — Rime by couplets, no stanzaic structure, mascu- 
line caesura, feminine rime, stress follows the cresura. trochaic move- 
ment, regular succession of stressed and unstressed syllables, caesura 
regularly divides verse into a first half of four accents and second 



1 W^right, p. 72. 
Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 

8 



106 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

half of three accents, attempt at coincidence of verse and word ac- 
cent,' but not fully carried out in the second half-verse, riming caesuras. 

This is the typical form of the Latin septenar, and shows clearly 
its derivation from the classical dactylic hexameter." The masculine 
caesui'a and feminine verse-ending have been retained. Quantity has 
been exchanged for accent, the trochaic movement has superseded 
the dactylic, and an accent has been added to the first half -verse. 

Ex. 2. The Song of the Welsh.' Thirteenth century. Last 
tetrastich. 

Istis suis f Inibus II contigit regntire ; 
lllis duces, pra'Sifies, II reges triumphare, 
Quibus nullo mdrito II &e possint sEquare ; 
Est quam regnare longe II plus iudiiperdre. 



O D ti II u w 'J' 

a a a a. 

Chai'acteristics : — Rime entrelacee, caesuras without rime, other- 
wise as Ex. 1. 

The frequent occurrence in Latin of the same termination made 
it possible for the poet to continue his verse indefinitely with a sin- 
gle rime; thus in the ' Dialogus Inter Corpus et Animam' fifteen 
lines rime entrelacee. The French poets, however, excelled in this 
species of verbal gymnastic, the author of the Thesaur de Pierre de 
Corbian* riming its eight hundred and forty lines on the ending 
'ens.' 

Ex. 3. Dialogus inter Corpus et Animam.^ Lines 105-109. 

Mundus et da^monium II legem sAnxire mutuam, 

f I'dudis dd consortium II cArnem ti'dheutes filtuam 

eorumque blanditiis II care seducit dniraam 

qudm a virtutum culmine II trdhit ad pArtem inflmara, 

quffe statim ctirnem sequitur || ut bos ductus ad victimam. 



111! 1^ U II Ij ULJ IJUJ 



a a a a. , 



1 See ' Der lateinische accent,' by P. Lange, Philologus, vol. 31, p. 107; also Handbuch 
der Klassischen Altertums-Wlssenschaft, vol. 2, p. 595, art. 138, 5. 

8 The trochaic septenar was favored by the late Latin writers, but dififered from the 
mediiBval septenar in essential points.— Handbuch, p. 596, art. 131. 

3 Wright, p. 58. 

■i Grand Dictionnaire Universelle s. v. Rime. 

6 Poems of Walter Mapes, p. 99. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



107 



Characteristics : — The intrusion of the dactylic movement in every 
vei'se position except the second, otherwise as Ex. 2. In the poem 
this stanza is preceded and followed by septenar stanzas on the 
model of Ex. 2. 

Ex. 4. De Pravitate Sfeculi.' Lines 29-33. 

Sed ne vos detineam II turbine sermonura, 
mundi cAput comiit II non habet patronum : 
libinam est hodie II virtus Scipionum, 
Miircellusque loquax II et nomina vana Catonura ? 



Characteristics : — The tendency shown in Ex. 3 has been reduced 
to system, the fourth verse becoming dactylic by the loss of one 
stress in the first half-verse and the removal of stress from the 
syllable immediately following the caesura. There ai'e many irregu- 
larities in this poem, but the intention of the author seems evident 
from such fourth lines as — Jiipiter esse pium | statuit quodctimque 
juvaret. 

- We return now to Ex. 1. This passage rimes at the cassuras by 
couplets, and can therefore be written as two quatrains. But these 
quatrains were easily bound together into one stanza by alternating 
rime, as is shown by the following lines taken from the same poem. 

Ex. 5. Lines 159-162. 

Inferentes miseris - — \j — o — u — 

Qui non sunt corddti, — u — u — 

Nee divini miineris — <-< — <-* — <-> — 

Grdtid flrmati, — ^ — ^ - 

Cdrnis desideriis *^ ~~ '^ —" <^ ~ 

dnimdles ddti, ^ — *-* ~ 

, , , , — <~> c* — '•J — 

Cujus immunditiis, ^J ^ _ 

briitis compardti, „ i, t, ,. i. 

abababab. 

Since the Latin 7-accent line was not inconveniently long, it was 
usually written as such ; but in English the above form was favored, 
and, through the prominence thus given to the caesura, riming half- 
verses increased in frequency, and one type of English stanza be- 
came fixed. 

Another form of stanza arises from a different combination of 
7-accent couplets of the type of Ex. 1. The two couplets given as 
Ex. 1 may be written by taking the first half-verses alternately, and 

1 Poems of Walter Mapes, p. 159. 



108 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



then the second half-verses in like order. The stanza thus becomes 
as follows — 



— O — U — u ^ 

— o — o — o o 

O Cl« — u ^ 

w o u y 



U O Ox 

— — *J — O Kj) 

o— o o^ 



ababcdcd. 

But rhythmical proportion seems to require that the first stanzaic 
section shall exceed the second in the number of verses, standing 
either six to four, or eight to four or six. The correspondence be- 
tween the octet and sestet of the sonnet and the eight and six of 
the septenar stanza would seem to argue a psychological basis for 
this division. 

Ex. 6. De Nummo.' First stanza. 

Mdnus ferens im'menl 

pium fi^cit impium ; 

ni'immus jungit fcederd, 

nummus dat consilium; 

nummus levit aspersi, 

nummus sedat pi-telium ; 

nummus in pi-a3latis, 

est pro jure siitis ; 

ni'immo locum diitis, 

vos, qui judicdtis. a b a b a b c c c c. 

That these verses are derived from the septenar is proved — 

1. By the retention of the masculine rimes in the first six lines. 

2. By the iise of feminine rimes in last four lines. 

3. By the entrelacue rime of the last four lines, a favorite rime in 
septenar lines. 

In the six examples given above the movement is without excep- 
tion trochaic. This was not an essential characteristic of the 7-accent 
line. The Latin septenar was usually trochaic, but the French and 
English were more frequently iambic. 

Ex. 7. Song from 'Carmina Burana.'^ 

FortunfB rota vohitur, || descendo minonitus; 

alter In Altum tollitur || uimis exaltiitus; 

rex sedit in vertice, || caveilt ruinam, 

ntim sub dxe legimus, 11 Hecubdm reginam. ' 

^ \j o O HO «J O <J\ 

(_» KJ <J—— O —/I — O —^IJ—KT 

" '■ <■ 'I " " U' 



1 Poems of Walter Mapes, p. 336. 



2 Schipper, vol. 1, p. 90. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 109 

Characteristics : — On the model of Ex. 1, but with confusion of 
trochaic and iambic movement, a tendency to insert an unstressed 
syllable after the cnesura in iambic lines ; usually the first half- 
verses of couplets have the same movement, the change, when made, 
arising from the stressed or unstressed condition of the vowel follow- 
ing the csesura. The example illustrates unintentional rimes, the 
first couplet riming at the caesura, the second not so riming. 

Ex. 8. The Lament of Simon de Montfort.' First stanza. 

Chaunter m'estoit, mon cuer le voit, 1| en I'ln dure langAg-e, 
Tut en plordunt fust fet le chdunt II de nostre dus biironilge. 
Que pur la pees, si loynz apres II se lesserent detrere, 
Lur cors trencher, e demenbrer, || pur stilver Engleterre, 
Ore est ocys la flur de pris, 1 qe taunt savoit de guere, 
Ly quens Montfort, sa dure mort || molt enplorra la terre. 

,U ,^— O i— O — *-• — "<J ""■ 4^0— U— ^ 

\j u .— O O 11 O O O V 

O— O O O no— O O — ' 

O U (J O ItO — o — ^—\ 

Ui_ o— — o — <^^— «o___ " t, J 

Characteristics : — This stanza is formed according to one form 
cited by Dante," two couplets (pedes), and a closing couplet (cauda). 
The change to iambic movement is complete, and is accompanied 
by the insertion of an unstressed syllable after the caesnra ; the rimes 
become masculine through the influence of the iambic movement. 

The lines, however, contain concealed rimes at the second and 
fourth stresses, rendering possible a stanzaic scheme as iambic 
dimeter. The first couplet forms, then, a stanza thus — 

<j — o — -^ 



o — o -^^ 

a a b c c b. 

This stanzaic structure passed into English, and was cultivated by 
Dunbar,* Wyatt,^ and others. 

As derived from the Latin septenar with double feminine rime and 
trochaic movement, it must be of a verj^ early date, as it is found in 
the hymn on the Epiphany^ of the ninth century, with the following 
scheme — 

O V> A 

— 11 — 1 1 -^ 



(J <J (ju >. 

— u— oA 
— o — o -^ J 



a a b c c b. 



1 Wright, p. 125. 2 Dante, p. 233. 

■i Vol. 1, p. 93,— "Of the Ladyis Solistaris at Court." 4 Guest, p. 587. s Guest, p. 586. 



110 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

This stanza became very popular for church lyrics in England' 
and France. 

The form passed also into English, but, as English taste is averse 
to double feminine rimes, the second unstressed syllable received a 
stress, and oftentimes other verses were given masculine rimes by 
di'opping final unstressed syllables ; such an example is, in Shakes- 
peare, Puck's song," " On the ground," etc. ; this is in sharp contrast 
with the song of Pyramus, " But stay, O spite !" which is in the same 
stanza with iambic movement.^ 

From this stanza as type many other forms arose in church prosje, 
and passed thence into profane literature ; but, as they are foreign to 
our purpose, we turn to the consideration of the 7-accent line in 
English. 

Ex. 9. Poema Morale,^ date of MS. about 1200, of poem about 
1170. Dialect South-English. First couplet. 

Ic am elder, thanne ic wes, II a winti'e and ec a lore ; 

ic eiildi more, thdnne ic dede : II mi wit 6ghte to bi more. 

— u— w^ u nu — ou — u — vj'^ 

<J (J O U__IIU \J<JKJ \j/ 

Characteristics : — In common with Ex. 1, rime by couplets, no 
stanzaic structui-e, masculine caesura divides verse into a first half- 
verse of four stresses and a second of three stresses. As different 
from Ex. 1 , confusion of trochaic and iambic movements, irregular 
succession of stressed and unstressed syllables, unstressed syllable 
following caesura, or stressed, as — 

Ne mtii him no man dl swo wel II demen ne swo rihte : 

Two points are, however, fairly well established — 

1. If a stressed syllable follows the caesura, the line will usually 
begin with the trochaic movement. 

2. The two verses of the couplet will usually agree in this matter- 
This measure, written in stanzas of four verses, second and fourth 

riming, or in quatrains, is termed in English hymnology ' Common 
Metre.' It forms also a favorite ballad measure for Northern ballads. 
Ex. 10. St. Stephen and Herod.' Second stanza. 

Steuyn out of kechone cdm || wyth boris bed on honde. 
He sdw a sterre was f ayr and brygt || ouer Bedlem stonde. 



^^Uss:u__-o II o \i:^<jy 



1 Analecta Litur{?ica, Fasciculus V, Prosae Ecclesife Abrincensis, p. 319 ; also in Pro- 
sae Ecclesia3 Sancti Dionysii, p. 360. 

2 M. N. D. 8, 2. 3 M. N. D. 5, 1. * Anglia 1, p. 6. 6 Child, vol. 1, p. 241. 
6 For discussion of alliteration in septenar stanzas see p. 113 ff. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. Ill 

The ballad stanza is, however, customarily written in four verses ; 
thus, in 'Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight,' first stanza.' 

o— — o •— o — u — 
— oo— u — 

<j _ — uo o u _ 

o o .o _ 

Or in ' Georgie,' * second stanza — 



<j ■ 



It may be added in passing that a rare form of ballad stanza, that 
of the ' Not-bro\\yie Mayd,'^ is derived from the iambic dimeter 
under Ex, 8. Second stanza. 

(J O -v 

O W ^ 

*/ U C V- 

o u ■' I 

o — uu -, 

o u ' 

O u — o < 

) 

o — o •' 

O O — o 

U O — - N 

O U ^ 

o a — u 

This affords an illustration of the resolution of the full stanza of 
Ex. 8, and keeps the proportion of the type between ' pedes ' and 
' Cauda.' 

To return again to the septenar, and cite additional illustrations 
of the close modeling of the English stanza upon the Latin. 

Ex. 11. A song.* Fifth stanza. Southern dialect. 

Be stille, hou fol, y cdlle Ipou riht, il cost Jjou neuer blynne? 
J)6u art wayted dAy & nylit II wijj fader & al my kynne ; 
be Tjou in mi boiir yt^ke, |1 lete ^ey for no synne 
me to holde, & he to slou : II he deh so hou maht wynne ? 

O U KJ — u — " u — o — u 

— u — u — u — "O — uo — o — u 

— u — u — o — " — o — u — u i 

Characteristics : — Those of Ex. 2 and Ex. 9 feminine rimes and 
entrelacee. 

1 Child, vol 1, p. 57. 2 Child, vol. 7, p. 140. 

3 Percy, vol. 3, p. 193. * Boddeker, p. 172. 



112 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Ex. 12. A Song against the Monks.' Dialect of Mercia. 

Freeres, f reeres, wo re be ! 

ministri malorum, 
For many a mannes soule bring- ge 

ad poenas infernorum. 

There are many poems in which the first half-verse is in English and 
the second in Latin. 

The septenar couplet with riming ctesuras is veiy common in 
English of every period, and is usually written in quati-ain stanzas. 
The romancers, however, rarely used it ; still, examples can be found 
in the metrical romances. 

Ex. 13. Sir Ferumbras.'' Supposed date 1377. Lines 2401-2. 

Wanne Jje day him was a-falle ** 

& tyme was come to wallie, 
Maubyn toward ]pe castel walle 

pryuyliche gan him stalks: 

This measure continues through line 3410. The dialect is thought 
to be Southern. 

Ex.14. The Five Joys of the Virgin.' Southern dialect. Stanza 5. 

be king I J)at wes of Jpe | ibore. u — u — u o> — 

to heouene he jpe vette. u — u — u — 

To J)are blisse II Jjat wes for-lore. "^ — ^ — '-'" — <-> — 

and bi hym seolue sette. '-' ^ "^ 

Vor I he hedde he | Icore. ^ " '' 

, , ' , u O — u ^— 

wel veyre he Jie grette. ^ 

Blyjje I were 'pd | Jper-vore. ^J ^ o 

ho eug-les he imette. 

This stanza is of frequent occurrence ; in the Southern dialect 
both with and without feminine^ rimes, in the Northern dialect 
more often with masculine rimes. 

Ex. 15. The Duty of Christians.' 



ababababs 



o — u — 



This is upon the model of Ex. 5. 

1 Schipper, vol. 1, p. 350. 2 E. E. T. S. No. 34. 3 E. E. T. S. No. 49, p. 87. 

* I shall not attempt to solve the problem of the syllabification of unstressed final e. 
In general, I believe it to have been pronounced in the South, and silent in the North, 
but it was pronounced over a wider area in the earlier centuries under review than in 
the later, and was at all times subject to various rules and to the exigencies of prosody. 

6 E. E. T. S. No. 49, p. 141. 

6 The metrical scheme as printed is not quite right. At the end of each of the even 
lines (2, 4, 6, 8) there should be added a breve (u). 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 113 

The examples of the septenar stanza have so far been drawn from 
the Southern and Midland dialects, with the exception of certain 
ballad forms. Alliteration has played no important pai't in the verse. 
The stanza has been bound by no laws not absolutely necessary for 
its formation. As we pass to the North, however, an important 
difference appears. Great technical masteiy of this, the favorite 
stanza, is evident. Alliteration becomes prominent and obligatory. 
The verses receive a different arrangement from that known in the 
South. A new type of stanza is established, with a life history of its 
own. 

Of the process by which this result was attained, we know but lit- 
tle. Few records of the early attempts of these poets have sur- 
vived. We find the typical stanza, with verse arrangement as in 
the Latin, Ex. 6, fully established, certain requirements in allitera- 
tion recognized, and the poets experimenting with various methods 
of ornamentation. 

It seems best to consider first the varieties of ornamentation and 
structure in a familiar stauzaic form. The example chosen might be 
written as iambic dimeter,' as in Ex. 10, but the stanza would be 
inordinately long. Moreover, this leonine rime was cultivated in 
the North when, oftentimes, it was not carried out with sufficient 
regularity to admit of resolution. In my opinion the author in- 
tended this for a septenar stanza in 4's and 3's, without riming pri- 
mary caesuras, i. e. at the close of the 4's, and with entrelacee long 
lines, i. e. entrelacee 3's, although the lack of rime with the primary 
cfesuras is very unusual. 

The development of the stanza can, then, be briefly stated as fol- 
lows — 

1. A septenar stanza of six verses, the first four constituting the 
' pedes,' the last two a closing couplet, or ' cauda.' 

2. The first four verses rime entrelacee. 

3. Structural alliteration imposed upon the 7-stress line. 

4. Resolution of the 7-stress lines, forming a 12-verse' stanza, 
without riming primary cfesuras, but with secondary caesuras fol- 
lowing the second stress in the 4-stress verse. 

5. Leonine rime in the 4-stress verse, which might, therefore, be 
written as dimeter, since the rime is carried consistently through 
the poem. 

A word concerning structural alliteration is here in place. The 
Old English verse measure was based in great part on alliteration. 

1 Schipper, vol. 1, p. 366. 



114 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

The law of sti'ucture has been most concisely given in the words ;* 
"It [alliteration] consists in the employment of the same or similar 
sounds at the beginning of a syllable which receives the primary 
stress. The second hemistich contains one such alliterative syllable, 
as a rule that which has the first primary stress ; the first hemistich 
has regularly two, though frequently only one. The alliterative 
sound must be the same throughout, if consonantal ; if vocalic, it is 
usually different in the three syllables." 

It may be affirmed, in general, that the laws of Old English allit- 
eration obtained in the Middle English period in the septenar line 
of the Northern English. Sometimes, however, the 7-stress verse 
was considered as a whole, as in the following example ; sometimes 
the 4-stress line constituted the verse, and in neither case does the 
author hesitate to place the two alliterative syllables in either half- 
verse, as may best suit his convenience. Structural alliteration in 
Middle English, then, consists of three alliterative syllables under 
the primary stress, two of which should be in one half-verse — more 
generally in the first — and one in the other. 

Alliteration for ornament continually increased both in the North 
and South, showing itself in the following ways — 

1. By excessive alliteration. 

2. By alliteration in semi-stressed syllables. 

3. By alliteration in unstressed syllables. 

4. By alliteration of different consonantal sounds, as f with v or w, 
s with sh, etc." 

5. By disregard of the primary stress in placing alliteration. 
Ex. 16. Moral Poem, by Richard Rolle de Hampole.' 

When Adam dalfe II and Eve spsine, 

So spire if Jxni may spede, 
WhAre was Jjan || the pride of mdn, 

Jjat now merres his mede ? 
Of erthe and liime II as wtis Addm, 
Niikede to noye and nede. 
We er, als he, || n^ked to be, 

Whills we ]?is lyfe sail lede. 
With I and oe || borne er we. 

As Salamon vs highte, 
To trilvell here || whills we er fere, 
As fewle vn-to Jie flyghte. 



1 Cook, p. li. 

2 Die Alliterierende Langzeile, by Rosenthal, Auglia I, p. 440. 

3 E. E. T. S. No. 26. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 1 15 



f^u — "U = U 




xbxbxbxbxcxc. 



As regards the alliteration, — in three cases, one syllable in the first 
half-verse, two in second, of full septenar line ; in one case all three 
syllables in second half-verse. This is probably due to the difficulty 
of preserving both leonine rime and alliteration in the first half -verse. 
In one verse, the first of the closing couplet, there is no alliteration. 

The above example was an ambitious attempt at leonine rime by 
an author who had apparently found no model for a complicated 
stanzaic structure. Such a type was perfected by other poets, the 
earliest and most radical divergence appearing, so far as we know, 
in the Northern ' Evangelium Nicodemi.' ' 



OO (J - 



'='^ — <-"= ^ ababababcdcd. 



In this the double quatrain with masculine rimes, an important 
modification of Ex. 15, is established, and the 3-stress quatrain cauda 
appears. This form of cauda is one distinguishing feature of the 
Northern stanza, but we refrain from discussing the stanza until it 
appears in its full development. 

This, the typical stanza of the North, is reached by the substitu- 
tion of 4-stress lines for the 3-stress lines of the double quatrain of 
Ex. 17. 



1 Evangelium Nicodemi, Archiv f iir neuere Sprachen, 1874^5, Nos. 53, 54. 



116 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Ex. 18. York Plays, No. X, stanza 1. 

Grett god, | Tjat dlle Jjis world | has wrought. 
And wisely wote II both gi'id and iile, 
I thank hym thraly II in my thought 
Of iUl his Idue II he lens me tille. 
That Jjus fro Mrenhede II htis me broght, 
A hundereth wyuter |1 to fulfil le. 
Thou gniunte me rayght || so Jjdt I mought 
Ordan my werkis II dfter Jji wille. 
For in this erthelj' lytt'e 
Ar non to god more boune. 
Then is I and my wyffe 
For frenshippe we haue f oune. 




ababababcdcd. 

This stanza illustrates the typical septenar stanza within the limits 
of the ancient Norlhumbria. It is, however, an imperfect example, 
since signs of deterioration are present, especially as regards allitera- 
tion. Possibly a perfect specimen was never produced. But such 
as it is, it will enable us to establish the characteristics of the stanza, 
and will give us a starting point from which to trace the variations, 
expansion, and disorganization of the stanza in its later history. 
With immaterial changes this form appears in the York plays II, 
X, XI, XX, XXIII, XXIV, XXVII, XXXV, XXXVII, XLIV, and 
in portions of XII, XV, XVII. 

Characteristics : — 

1. A lirst section of eight verses with two alternate rimes. Varia- 
tion in this section marks extreme deterioration of stanza. 

2. A second section, consisting of a 3-stress quatrain. 

This frequently contains six verses, and may vary in the method 
of riming. 

3. The regular iambic movement. The stanza drifts steadily 
toward the anapaestic movement, finally exceeds it in the number 
of unstressed syllables, and breaks down through lack of carrying 
power in the voice ; then irregular accents are introduced, and the 
first verses of the stanza receive five or six accents. 



i 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 1 ] 7 

4. In alliteration this stanza shows — 

a) The type, in verse 3. 

b) Cross alliteration, in verse 8. 

c) Double alliteration with one syllable a semi-stress, in verses 1 
and 5. 

d) Alliteration Avith unstressed syllable, in verse 7. 

e) Deficient alliteration, in verses 2, 4, and 6, 

/) The presence of but little alliteration in the second section. 
All the stanzas of these York plays show some iiTegularities, but 
many have fewer exceptions than this. 

o. Distinguishing marks of early formation — 

a) Lack of excessive alliteration. 

b) Regularity of iambic movement. 

c) Typical rime in second section. 

d) Absence of ' bob.' 

Whether the double quatrain stanza, with structural alliteration 
and masculine rimes throughout, is of earlier or later construction 
than examples 17 and 18, admits of doubt. I incline to think it later, 
and formed from Ex. 18 by omitting the cauda. In any case there 
is proof that the same author wrote in both stanzas at a time when, 
if the evidence can be trusted, a poet usually confined his efforts to 
one style of English verse. The similarity of these double quatrains 
to Ex. 18 is quickly seen. 

Ex. 19. York Plays No. VIII, last stanza- 



aba b a b a b.a 



In Ex. 18 the beginning of stanzaic deterioration, as shown by ir- 
regularities of alliteration, was noted, but in neither Ex. 17 nor Ex. 
18 was there any variation from alternate riming. This, together 
with masculine verse endings, must be retained so long as conscious- 
ness of the origin of the stanza from the English septenar is present. 
But with the loss of the tradition a departure from the type may be 
expected. Now in the Latin stanza the entrelacee rime was the 
favorite ; therefore contamination of the English type through 

1 See p. 143. a A curve should extend to the last line, as to the preceding. 



_ c = 


II e»: 


= O.-T^ 


II O; 


— uu — 


11 O 


— oo — 


HO 


— ■ 1 — 


II U 



118 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



entrelacee rime might be expected. Furthermore, as a correspon- 
dence between the sonnet and this stanza oftentimes holds as regards » 
the division into octet and sestet, so here we might expect to find, as 
in the sonnet, that the canda departs more readil}^ from the estab- 
lished type than does the double quatrain. Accordingly, since we 
have found deterioration in allitei'ation in the woi'k of this jjoet, 
we need not be surprised at finding entrelacee rime in the cauda of 
his stanza. 

Ex.20. York Plays. No. IX. Stanza]. 




ababababcdcccd. 



The author is evidently experimenting, since he misses through 
the insertion of the first line of the cauda a favorite riming form of 
the Coventry and Woodkirk plays, a type that had at a later date a 
profound influence upon the septenar stanza. 

The alliteration is excessive, but the iambic movement is fairly 
regular, and rirae tests, as we shall see later, go to prove this play 
the work of the author of X and VIII. Comparison with play 
XXVI, which follows, will immediately reveal the difference in 
stanza, although the riming is the same. 

Ex.21. York Plays. No. XXVI. Stanza 4. 




ababababcdcccd. 



L 



Charles Daoidson— English Mystery Plays. 119 

The direction of the deterioration is evident. All stressed sylla- 
bles but two, and four unstressed syllables, have alliteration in this 
stanza. Such overloading with alliterative sounds destroyed all 
sense of their proper function. The first half -verses have passed the 
bounds of anapaestic movement. The voice naturally places a stress 
upon the first unstressed syllable, thus transforming the verse into 
a 5-stress line and destroying the stanza. It is significant that this 
quasi 5-stress line was considered the most suitable for royal person- 
ages. Many instances might be cited of this anticipation of 'Mar- 
lowe's mighty line.' 



XIX. 
CERTAIN STANZAS OF THE MYSTERY PLAYS. 

The later forms of the seplenar stanza do not particularly concern 
us, as they lie outside of the Mystery Plays. I will therefore pass 
over them rapidly, giving the stanzaic schemes for completeness of 
view and for comparison with the Southern stanza toward which 
they gravitated. 

Ex. 22. Prologue to the Eighth Book of the ^neid by Gawain 
Douglas, date 1513.' Last stanza. 



\JUU 




(JUI 


1 u u u ■■ 


uu- 


a 


= 


UUOU =OUiiU= 


uov- 


yu 


= 


uu 


:=U"C/U^ 


UU: 


u 


= 


UOUU •' c/ = 


; UU : 


uoo 





u 


CKIQ— - 


UU : 


UUU 




= 


O Oi' u = 


:UO 


Ot) 


= 


u = - 


L/U 11 UUU = 




u 


=^ 


ua u 


O II o- 


■ ou 


o 




uou 


o(>" u- 


—00 






u 


u 


•ooo 






V 


— = 1 


uoo 






O 


OO 





ababababcdddc.a 



Lines 4 and 5 have the same alliterative letter, the letter s. 
Ex. 23. The Howlate of Holland, date 1450-54.' Stanza 2. 



1 Schipper, vol. 1, p. 221. 

2 In the tirst line, the macrons (-) should each be read as double macrons (=). and 
another one should be inserted just before the caesura. 

3 Pinkerton, vol. 3, p. 147. 



120 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



^^ = 


yj — . 


'• vy 


00 


= 


O O =r 


= 


»i u 


:=i>C/ 


= 


O U = 


UUU = 


II V 


= c»o 


== 


U OU 


t» == 


M 


= OC 


= 


ug= 


oy 0=; 


; II U 


:=i l/C 


= 


V uU:r=: 


: UU=: 


(< — 


(> 





o 


uo = 


: HI' 


ty ^ c/u 


= 




: Orr= 


: U t' 1 


L»= c/u 


—- 


0= 


: WO = 


;U /• 


tJOO 


' = 









—U*J u 


= 






c» U 


= t»u 


==r 






OO' 


U — oa 


■= 






u u = 





= -^ ababababcdddc.i 



Lines 3 and 4 have the same alliterative letter, the letter b ; lines 
5 and 6 have 1 ; lines 12 and 13 have b, 
' Ex. 24. Gawan and Gologras," date about 1500, Stanza 3. 



OU =yoo 


■== II (J =0 u 


=uuu 


= II ==0 u 


UU OU 


-— 1, =^uu 


^00 


= 0"0 rssiCO 


00 ^00 


II UU 


(J00=00 


^= II = UU 


:=(JU 


= 0" C/u 


= OU 


=00 1' OU 


LIUO = UU 


II oc 




000 OU 




u 00 




C OU 




— 1 ababababcdddc.3 



Lines 1 and 2 alliterate on f, lines 5 and 6 on h, lines'V and 8 on 
t, line 9, 10, and 11 on w. The introduction of feminine rimes is 
worthy of remark. 

Ex. 25. The Anturs of Arthur at the Tarnewathelan/ date about 
1350.' Stanza 3. 



\J>JU=U<J = 


00 


U Uy ^=r II (JCJ 


== 


yti= uu = iioou 


— 


0= OU :=OII 


UO: 


000=^1 OU ==Ui> UU 


= 


<)<lii (jij :^_: II 


; UU 


UOU •=uuo==^" 


r-=- you 


u=Oyo:=U'i U 


==r UCi: 


yu=yyv= " O 


= OO: 





= UU(J. 


OOU 


— 00 


u 


uuuu- 


V 


OU ■ 



ababababcdddc. 



1 In the sixth line the two macrons after the cfesura should be read as cue long 
macron. 2 Pinkerton, vol. 3, p. 69. s Breve at end of seventh line. < Robson. 

6 Given by Hohlfeld, Anglia 11, p. 249, as on the authority of ten Brink. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 121 

Lines 1 and 2 alliterate on g, lines 3 and 4 on b, lines 5 and 6 on 1, 
lines 8 and 9 on t, lines 12 and 13 on 1). 

So similar are examples 22, 23, and 24, that I do not hestitate to 
pronounce them products of the same school. Examples 23 and 24 
were possibly by the same author, and written in the neighborhood 
of Carlisle. 

It would seem, then, from the evidence of the stanza, that 1500 is 
too late for Gawan and Gologras, and 1350 a date much too early 
for the ' Anturs.' 

Ex. 26. Of Saynt John the Euaungelist,' date about 1440." 
Stanza 1. 




ababababccdccd. 



Each alliteration is carried through two lines. The first short line 
recasts the thouglit of the last long line. It is impossible to deter- 
mine with certainty whether these more corrupt forms are de- 
scendants of the septenar stanza, or are offshoots from the Southern 
stanzaic forms. 

Ex. 27. Susanna,' date about 1360.* Stanza 1. 



UUU = 


WUl/=! 


= ri 


00 


■=. 


OUO = 




" 


0= 


ouu 


au(j = 


■no 


" 


u = 


(JU 


uu=. 


r = 


" 


0= 


00 


= 


:00 = 


U II 


UOU 


= 


= 


: 0=< 


juun 


= 


t.) 


= 


■OU 


On u 





= 


:ClO = 


OOii 


a 


JUUU 

■ 




UOU 


= 


UU : 









==.(JOOU ; 






vu 





UP- 
00 z 



ababababcdddc.5 



1 E. E. T. S. No. 36. 2 Schipper, vol. 1, p. 230. 3 Ang-lia, 1, p. 93. 

•» Schipper, vol. 1, p. 319, given on the authority of Horstmann. 
5 Insert a breve before last breve of sixth line. 
Tr.\ns. Coxn. Acad., Yol. IX. October, 1802. 



122 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

This poem is assigned by Horstmann' to the Northern dialect, by 
Morris, as stated by Horstniann, to the West-Midland. The stanza is 
found in the Woodkirk plays in ' The Conspiracy ' and ' The As- 
cension.' It is one of the favorite stanzas in the so-called Coventry 
cycle, occurring in the following plays — 

The Prologue, 

II. The Fall of Man, 

IV. Noah's Flood, 

X. Mary's Betrothment, 

XII. Joseph's Return, 

XVI. The Adoration by Shepherds, 

XXI. The Baptism of Christ, 

XXII. The Temptation. 

XXVI. The Entry into Jerusalem, 

XXVII. The Last Supper, 

XXIX. .King Herod, 

XLl. The Assumption of the Virgin, 

XLII. Doomsday. 

These Coventry plays are probably of East-Midland origin.'' The 
same district appears to have been the locale of this stanza, which is 
found also in 'The Casteil of Perseverance." It would appear, 
therefore, that the poem of Susanna should be assigned to a poet 
south of York, whose style was affected by Northern extravagances 
in alliteration. 

The stanza was also of late date, since it passed into the Morali- 
ties. 

From a fusion of the septenar stanza with this East-Midland 
stanza arose a new type with the following characteristics — 

1. Alliteration in greatest excess. 

2. So great an overplus of unstressed syllables that the recitation 
must have simulated chanting when the integrity of the stanza was 
preserved. 

3. Surreptitious stress increased the accents to five and six in a 
line. 

4. The rime of the East-Midland stanza was adopted. 

This measure, Avith the reiteration of allitei'ation, was considered 
the proper introduction for persons of dignity, and is used in all four 
cycles, although the Ch and the Co soften greatly the alliteration. 
As the actor of royal rank usually appears at the beginning of the 



1 Anglia, 1, p. 93. 2 Pollard, p. XXXVIII. 3 Pollard, p. 64. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 123 

play, modification of tlie play in compliance with the taste of the 
period was an easj' matter. This stanza, with various modifications, 
appears in York plays XXVIII, XXIX, XXX, XXXI, XXXIII, and* 
stanzas or portions of stanzas, formed unmistakably upon the same 
verse pattern, are fotmd in the Woodkirk, the so-called Coventry, 
and even in the Chester plays. 

This stanza, as the earlier septenar, had a life history of change 
and deterioration. Sometimes the excessively long lines broke into 
two, with riming cajsuras and the development of new stresses. Such 
verses, in process of resolution, exist in Pilate's speech in the Ch 
play, ' The Resurrection :' 

For I am prince pearles, 
Most royal man of luches, 
I may deale and I may dresse, 
My name is Sir Pilate. 

In these lines the alliteration has suffered injury, and the rime has 
been lost. They are a weak imitation, almost a prose version, of 
such lines as York XXXII : 

For sir Pilate of pounce as prince am y preued 
As I'enke most royall in richeste array— 

and the Woodkirk ' Flagellation : ' 

Say, wote ye not that I am Pylate, perles to behold ? 

An earlier form of the same appears in W, ' Consp. & Captio : ' 

Cayphas. 

Syr Pilate, prince of mekylle price. 
That prevyd is withoutten pere— 

which lines form the beginning of an a b a b a b a b c d c d stanza. 

Furthermore, the bonds of rime were loosened, and sometimes the 
long lines passed towards the boundaries of rhythmical prose. This 
is illustrated by Y XXXI, "And drawe to no drofyng, but dresse 
you to drede, with dasshis," where "drede" rimes with the second 
line below, and "dasshis" with the fourth ; also by Y XXXII, 1. 10, 
where "To knawe" has no affiliation with the verse structure, and 
calls to mind similar versification in legends and romances. 

Again, the breaking of stanzaic structure by the indefinite exten- 
sion of the pedes of the stanza, as in Y XXXII, stanza 2 ; in Co 
XV, in Joseph's second speech ; in Sir Gawain and The Green 
Knight, and elsewhere, led to the establishment of a species of 
verse, riming in most cases it is true, but with an irregular suc- 
cession of stresses and tending toward a rhythmical prose. An 
investigation of the transformation and relationship of this stanza 
would yield rich results, but we must leave it as a task for others. 



J 24 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

A fourth stanza invites our attention. In the French a simple 
4-accent couplet was popular at an early date. 
Ex. 27. 

\J v_, v^ ^j >. 

U \J O vj ' '^ 

V xj V v^ . 

U \j W W J 

In this measui'e were written the 'Roman de Brut' of Wace, the 
'Roman de Rou," 'Guillaume D'Engleterre,' and many others. In 
English it is preserved in such ballads as 'A mery Ballet of the 
Hawthorne Tree,'* and in other styles of verse too familiar for 
reference. 

These couplets were early fashioned into stanzas by the insertion 
of a short line, riming with the second couplet, and became jjopular 
in the 15th century with the French writers of Miracles. The stanza 
occiirs repeatedly in ' Les Miracles de Notre Dame.' 

Ex. 28. 



NJ \J \J U < 

V W w v^ -i 

W o \J \J . J 



This type probably gave rise to the English stanza- 
Ex. 29. 



i V — w — u \ 



but the method of riming is, regularly in English, the riming of sim- 
ilar verses, never in a succession of stanzas, as in French, by ' con- 
catenatio." 

This stanza is found in the Woodkirk plays as follows — 

I. Creation, the character of Deus. 

X. Annunciation, the play exclusive of Deus. 

XI. Mary and Elizabeth. 

XII. The Crucifixion, together with other stanzas. 

XXVIII. The Incredulity of Thomas, with other stanzas. 

It is used also for the second part of 'Sir Ferumbras,' ■* for 'The 
Woman of Samaria,''' for Minot's ' Edward in Brabant," and else- 
where. 

1 Bartsch, col. Ill, col. 143. 2 Ritson, vol. 2, p. 44. s Cp. Schipper in index. 

* E. E. T. S. No. 34. « E. E. T. S. No. 49, p. 84. e Poems of Lawrence Minot, p. 13. 



Charles Davidson — English 3fystery Plays. 125 

"With the more difficult rime a a b a a b, this stanza occurs also in 
the Woodkirk plays — 

VII. The Prophets. 
IX. Cresar Augustus. 
XXII. The Flagellation, in the part of the Tormentors. 

Also in the Chester play, The Shepherds, among other stanzas. 

This stanza is interesting as the germ of the metrical-romance 
stanza, which was possibly rejected by the writers of drama as too 
monotonous. The following partial lists will illustrate its use — 

aabaabccbccb. 

Romance of Duke Rowlande and of Sir Ottuell of Spayne.' 

aabaabccbddb. 
Amis and Amiloun,'' 
Libius Disconius,' 
The King of Tars,' 
Mary Legend, No. 11.^ 

aabccbddbeeb. 

The Romance of Athelston,^ 

Emare." 

Romance of the Emporor Octavian,' 

Erl of Tolous and the Emperes of Alraayn,^ 

Le Bone Florence of Rome," 

Sir Isumbras." 

Rouland and Vernagu," 

Torrent of Portyngale,'" 

The Wright's Chaste Wife,'= 

Sir Amadace,'* etc. 

Certain other stanzas were of wide-spread use, and appear in the 
different cycles of Mysterj^^ Flays. Of their origin it is sufficient to 
say in general that they sprang, for the most part, from the Latin 
stanzaic forms of the church service, especially from the service of 
song. Some of them, also, show evident marks of French influence, 



1 E. E. T. S. No. 35. 2 Kolbing, No. 3. 

3 Ancient Eug-lish Metrical Komances. 

■• Horstmann, p. 503.— Note. Kolbing's criticism, Amis and Amiloun, p. XIV, of 
Horstmann's statement concerning the rime, is itself incorrect, as Horstmann speaks 
of the Mary Legend, No. II, but Kolbing of the Mary Legend, No. I. 

6 Reliqiise AntiqujB, vol. 1, p. 85. g Ancient Metrical Romances, vol. 2. 

' J. O. Halliwell. s G. Liidthe. 

9 Ancient English Metrical Romances. " j. O. Halliwell. " E. E. T. S. No. 39. 

13 E. E. T. S. Extra Series, No. 51. " E. E. T. S. No. 14. u Itobson. 



126 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

and it is probable that the sources of some are to be sought for in 
the Proven9al, A general view, as exhaustive as seems necessary 
for our purpose, is appended, a a b a b. Ex. 30. 



is found in six stanzas spoken b}^ Lucifer, W I. 

a a a b a b. 

York VI, XXII, XXXVIII, XLII. 

Woodkirk XIV, XXVII, XXXII, XXVI (in the part spoken by 
Jesus), 

aaabaaab and a a a b c c c b. 

Woodkirk XVII, XXIII (Mary's lament), XXIV (the Torment- 
ors), XXIX (certain stanzas). 

Coventr}^ XIV (a portion of the play), XVI (stanzas by shep- 
herds), XVII (stanzas bj^ Magi, and certain 2-accent stanzas), XIX 
(one stanza), XXVII (by Judas in part), XXXII (by Jews and 
others), XXXIII, XXXIV (by Nychodemus), XXXV (in 4-accent 
and 2-accent verses), XXXVI (in part). 

Chester. The whole Chester cycle was written by a poet who at- 
tempted to use the stanza a a b a a b, but frequently resorted to 
a a b c c b as an easier stanza, and sometimes lost his footing com- 
pletely, 

aaaabcccb. 

Woodkirk III, XII, XIII, XVI, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIV (certain 
stanzas), XXX (in stanzas by demons). 

Many modifications of these stanzas appear infrequently in the 
plays. We note in closing oar review a favorite stanza of the Cov- 
entry plays, ababbcbc, from which it is but a step to Spenser. 

Finally, we form from the foregoing examination of the stanzas of 
English in the mediiieval period certain conclusions — 

1. A distinctive stanza, formed from the septenar line, obtained 
in the district — to speak in general terras — extending from the Hum- 
ber to the Forth ; and was not used, except in a much altered form, 
outside of those limits. 

2. The characteristics of this stanza were— 

a) Two 4-verse, 4-stress pedes ; a 4-verse or G-verse 3-stress cauda. 
h) The pedes rimed in two riming quatrains ; the cauda originally 
rimed alternately, but variation was permissible, 
c) The verse kept carefully the iambic movement. 



Charles Davidson— English Mystery Plays. 3 27 

d) The cfesura was uniformly placed after the second stress, ex- 
ceptionally after the first and third.' 

e) Caesuras and verses were niasculine. 

/) Alliteration was structural, i. e, confined to three stressed syl- 
lables in the verse. 

3. This stanza suffered direct change in three ways— 

a) By continual increase of alliteration. 

b) Through the inordinate multiplication of unstressed syllables, 
especially in the first half-verses. 

c) Through innovations in the riming of the cauda. 

4. These changes were so pronounced in type and limited in time, 
that the stanza affords important evidence in dating poems relatively 
to each other." 

5. A stanza riming a b a b a b a b c d d d c was cultivated in 
East Anglia at a date somewhat later than that of the Northern 
stanza of pure type. 

6. The Northern stanza, under the influence of the contiguous 
East Anglian stanza, formed a second distinct type. 

7. This derived stanza developed as follows — 

a) By the loosening of the bonds of stanzaic structure, the pedes 
were indefinitely extended, and the composition approached the 
bounds of rhythmical prose ; or, 

h) The voice failed to carry the excessive number of unstressed 
syllables, surreptitious stresses created a 5-stress line, or the verse 
broke into two lines with the development of new stresses. 

8. A stanza aabaabccbccb was formed for rhythmical 
narrative, and became the vehicle of the metrical romance. 

9. Other stanzas appear as directly dependent upon church sources 
and French influences. 

10. A stanza ababbcbc closes the mediaeval period. This 
statement applies more directly to the district immediately north of 
the Thames. 

The cycles of Mystery plays present certain metrical characteris- 
tics as individual cycles — 

1. The York cycle, with the exception of a few plays,' retains one 
stanzaic structure through a play, or, in some cases, through a scene. 

2. The Woodkirk plays show an attempt to adapt the stanza to the 
character, or at least to limit the use of a given stanza to one char- 
acter in a given play. 

1 Cp. Ex. 19. 2 Cp. Ex. 24. 

3 Cp. York XII, XIII, XVI, XXIX, XXXI, XXXII, XL. 



128 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

3. The Coventry plays exhibit prevailingly an interchange of 
three stanzas, the choice apparently influenced only by a desire for 
variety. 

4. The Chester pla5'^s are, as uniformly as an author of limited 
poetical resources could make them, cast in the mold of one stanzaic 
form. 

The importance of the foregoing conclusions in determining the 
structure of the cycles of plays is evident. We proceed now to the 
defense of certain propositions relating to the cycles themselves. 



XX. 

A SURVEY OF THE CYCLES OF MYSTERY PLAYS. 

In considering the cj'cles of plays as wholes, certain general struc- 
tural characteristics appear. A discussion of these will prepare us 
for a more minute investigation of cycle construction. 

I. The York cycle contains plays of widely different styles and 
vocabulary. Such plays as X and XI have little in common with 
XXXI and XXXII, and still less with XLVI. The differences are 
not such as arise from an unskillful re-working of an old play. Such 
scribal changes are found in Woodkirk ' Pharao,' when compared 
with York XI. They lead to the distortion of the stanza — 

a) By the insertion of extra-stanzaic verses, as the quatrain in W 
after the first stanza, or the two verses separating the cauda from 
the pedes in stanza 22. 

h) By the breaking of rime, as in stanza 25. 

c) By the disarrangement or obliteration of the alliteration through 
the displacement of alliterative words by non-alliteratiye synonyms, 
as through the substitution of 'words' for 'saws' in 1, 17, or by the 
complete loss of alliteration in 1. 23. 

d) By the destruction of the iambic movement, as in lines 21, 39, 
52, 53, etc. 

e) By the loss of a stress, as in line 28. 

The differences between the above-named plays are not of this 
character, but fundamental. They concern — 

a) The structure of the line, which in XXXI and XXXII is ex- 
cessive in alliteration, inordinate in length, irregular in rime, and 
contains occasionally an unusual tag, as line 10, XXXII. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 129 

h) The riming, as in XL VI, where the repetition of ' hym,' ' us,' 
and the frequent use of words ending in 'ioun' is a habit unknown 
to the author of X and XI. 

c) The vocabulary of the writer, in cases where there is no ques- 
tion of the substitution of a more familiar synonym. Examples of 
such usage are 'bewscheris' and many •quasi-Fi'ench words (cp. line 
257, XXXI), and the employment of words of Latin origin which 
were xised in riming as an ornament of style, especially such as end 
in 'ioun.' 

These affectations in riming we recognize, from later plays and 
from other poetical works, as the ornaments of style at a period later 
than the origin of plaj^s X and XI. 

The municipal books of York show that expansion or contraction 
of the cycle, according to the present needs of the different crafts,* 
was of common occurrence. Such changes were made by the inser- 
tion or excision of whole scenes, or of whole plays, never by the 
fusion of plays. This will become clear as we proceed to the more 
minute analysis. 

II. The Woodkirk cycle" is a collection of plays drawn from 
various sources. The compiler was a man of small poetical ability. 
His original verse was confined to couplets, with an occasional at- 
tempt at quatrains. He did not hesitate to ajijaropriate good work 
wherever he found it, or to do violence to rime or measure, if he con- 
sidered the thought unclear or contrary to accepted traditions. 

As illustrations of his methods we cite — 

1. For transition between selected parts of plays, the sixteen 
verses by cherubim between the first speech of Deus and that of 

1 York plays, pp. XIV to XXVI, notes. 

2 Hall, Englische Studien, vol. 9, p. 449, argues that Y is derived from W because it 
contains more alliteration ! He arrives at this conclusion by trusting implicitly to 
Skeat's " Law of progress in alliterative poetry."' Preface to Joseph of Arimathea, p. X. 
If, as Skeat formulates it, the progress is "from lines with two alliterated letters to lines 
with three, and in very late instances, to lines with four," from irregularity to regular- 
ity—although he admits that some of the latest examples of alliterative verse relapses 
into irregularity;" — then I do not see how Hall's conclusion can be escaped. But the 
law seems to run as well from no alliteration to two alliterated words. In that case 
the re-creation of the old alliteration after the literature containing it had been buried 
for centuries would be little short of a mii-acle. 

On the contrary, the old laws of alliteration were preserved by the North in continu- 
ous tradition. A sharp division must be made between structural alliteration, which 
conforms to ancient law, and alliteration for ornament, which gi-adually broke down 
the tradition of the fathers by swamping the essentials iu a multitude of detail. We 
have already traced the progress of demoralization, and need only note that it, in con- 
formity with other evidences, makes W the later dependent cycle so far as concerns the 
older plays of the collection. 



130 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Lucifer in Creatio. These couplets seem-4o be a condensation of 
some unknown play. 

2. For introduction, the four couplets introducing the call of 
Deus, " Abraham, Abraham," in the plaj^ of Abraham. 

•3, For expansion of thought or to convey indirectly a lesson, manj- 
quatrains — sometimes only three verses — that are usually introduced 
between stanzas, as in 'Pharao' after 1. 13,' 1. 108, 1. 120; in 'Pagina 
Doctorum' after 1. 173, 1. 174, 1. 175. 

4, For plays of transition where the compiler desired that certain 
incidents of the Bible should be made prominent, and could find no 
suitable })lay, the drama of Isaac — Isaac blessing Jacob — and that of 
Jacob — when Jacob was named Israel. 

5. For plays that are formed from two or more plays by the use 
of selected stanzas or parts of stanzas, ' Flagellacio' and 'Extractio 
Animarum.' To this compiler, however, we are indebted for the 
preservation of the second ' Shepherd Play,' our earliest farce, and for 
the 'Judicium,' which, in the part of Tutivillus," contains a satire on 
the fashions and manners of the day. 

III. The Chester plays are, as Hohlfeld has Avell said, the work of 
a translator.^ I incline, hoAvever, to the opinion that the cycle was 
not French, but Anglo-Norman. The agreements with the other 
cycles are significant. They include — 

1. ' The Salutation,' which shows agreement among Ch, Y, W, and 
S & T of Co. 

2. ' The Purification,' which shows agreement among Ch, Y, W, 
and W of Co. 

3. The Song of Jesus, where there is agreement between Ch and W. 

4. In ' Christ Betrayed ' the agreement between Ch and W in two 
lines accompanying the stroke of the sword. 

To these may be added the distinctively English passages — 

1. The gossips' song, Ch I, p. 53. 

2. The part of Mulier, Ch II, p. 81. 

It may be admitted that the Song of Jesus and the gossips' song 
are later additions, that 'The Purification' is an adaptation of the 
York play ; still, 'The Salutation' is in the stanza of the cycle and 
probably by the same translator ; therefore not all of these agree- 
ments arose from the late adoption of plays from other cycles. 



1 The verse-numbers apply to the corresponding- York play. 

■2 Cp. Tuteville in llodentiner Osterspiel, pp. 49, 50. The coincidence appears to arise 
by independent derivation from 'toute-vilain.' 
"' Anglia, vol. 11. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 131 

The wide agreement in these plays seems to me to argue a common 
knowledge of models existing in England. These models may have 
been in part Anglo-Norman, as the cycle of the Parish Clerks of Lon- 
don probably was. Most of them were undoubtedly church plays, 
would be often in Latin, possibly sometimes in Anglo-Norman, and 
often in English.' 

The continual presence of plays in the churches upon appropriate 
festival days must be assumed. Few remains of such plays are ex- 
tant, but the known opposition of the reforming party to these 
plays, and the efficient zeal of King Henry's spoilers, would satisfac- 
torily account for their destruction with the dispersion of libraries 
that were their proper repositories. The repeated enactment of im- 
perative laws^ forbidding plays in the churches, the presence of sep- 
ulchres in many churches to-day, and the occasional references to 
them in hostile writings,' are conclusive evidences of their presence. 

A mistaken interpretation of phenomena presented by the plays 
has often arisen through the failure to give due weight to two facts 
that concern the church customs of that day. It may be well to in- 
terrupt for a moment the course of this discussion to present those 
facts. 

First, the solidarity of custom, as well as of belief, throughout the 
churches of England and France. This gave rise to a uniformity of 
method and expression in the mystery plays, which resulted in such 
striking similarities between plays formed on models used in the 
churches of England and those that arose from other models on the 
continent, that oftentimes direct dependence of the English play 
upon the French has been asserted, when, very possibly, each author 
knew no plays but those of his own cathedral church and immediate 
neighborhood. Churches are conservative bodies, slow to change 
their customs ; therefore the church plays would diverge from their 
common type very slowly. They were viewed almost as parts of the 
liturgy. 



1 See the ' Mystery of the Burial of Christ,' ' Off the Wepiuge of the Thre Maries,' 
and the 'Mystery of the Itesurrection,' given in Wright's Reliquias Antiqute, vol. 1, 
pp. 134-161. These are English church mysteries, which have been passed by without 
remark by writers upon this subject. 

2 The chief trace that the old hierarchj' left of Its dramatic existence was the acting of 
plays in the churches, which was finally ordered to be discontinued by proclamation in 
1542, but was continued by choristers of St. Paul and of the Chapel Royal until the time 
of Chas. I.— Hone, p. 329. In 1603, canon 88 of the canons of the Church of England 
enacted that church-wardens should not suffer plays in churches, chapels, or church- 
yards.— Encyclopasdia Britannica s. v. Theatre. 

3 ' The Beehive of the Romish Church ' speaks of the shows of Burial, Resurrection, 
etc.— Hone, p. 221. 



132 Charles Davidsoii — English Mystery Plays. 

Secondly, if the tradition was preserved through acted church 
plays rather than through the importation and re-casting of texts, 
the agreement between plays will be different in kind. The corres- 
pondence arising through the remodeling of plays we can study in 
the Woodkirk cycle, when compared with the York. They are 
found throughout the body of the text, usually in whole stanzas or 
in considerable portions of stanzas, wherever the thought seemed 
pleasing to the compiler. The agreements, arising from the recollec- 
tion of the play as acted, will lie in certain notable actions that are 
conventionally present in every church play, and in the appropriate 
speech that goes with such action. 

A few examples, drawn from French and Italian sources, and 
placed in comparison with the English plays, will illustrate my posi- 
tion. 

In J,' p. 5, Dieu takes Adam and Eve by the hand and tells them 
of the tree. 

In V T,^ vol. 1, p. 34, Dieu takes Adam and Eve by the hand, 
pronounces benediction of marriage, and shows them the tree. 

In W, p. 6, Cherubjni takes Adam by the hand and the Lord 
speaks about the tree. 

In Ch, vol, 1, p. 24, God takes Adam by the hand after the dis- 
course and causes him to lie down.^ 

Eve's address to Adam when offering him the apple — 
In J, jD. 8, Adam, chier compains et amis. 
In Ch, vol. 1, p. 2S, Adam, husbande, life and deare. 
In Co, p. 28, My semelj' spouse and good husband. 
In W the play is lost. 

Adam eats — exclaims, then a) accuses Eve, or b) perceives naked- 
ness, or c) combines the two. 

In J, p. 9, Ha hay ! je suy nial avoiez. 

Ce morcel ne puis avaler. 
In V T I, p. 49, O vray Dieu, de moy te souvienne ! 

Poore maleureux, que ay je fait? 
In Y, p. 25, Alias ! what haue I done, for shame ! 

Ille counsaille woo worlhe the ! 

A ! Eve, >ou art to blame. 



1 J stands for Mysteres inedlts par Achille Jubinal. 

2 V T stands for Viol Testament. 

3 A similarity here with V T leads to the supposition that God also led Adam into 
Paradise and showed him the tree. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 133 

In Ch I, p. 29, Out ! alas ! what aylith me ? 
I am nacked well I see ; 
Woman, cursed moth thou be. 

In Co, p. 2*7, Alas ! alas ! ffor this fals dede, 

My flesly frend my fo I fynde, 
Schameful synne doth us unhede, 
I se us nakyd before and behynde. 

In W the play is lost. 

The exclamations of devils in torment — 
In J, p. 24, Belgibuz, — Hai'ou, je suis tout forsonnez. 
In V. T, vol. 1, p. 18, Lucifer, — Harau, Harau ! je me repens. 
In Y, p. 5, Lucifer, — Owte, owte ! harrowe ! hel2)les, slyke bote at* 
es here. 

In W, p. 4, Demon, — Alas, alas, and wele-wo ! 

In N," Diabolus, — Put off Harro, and well away. 

In Ch, vol. 1, J}. 17, Demon, — Out! harrowe ! wher is our mighte. 

The salutation — 

In J, Gabriel — Ave Maria gratia plena. 

Marie, Dieu te sault, Marie. 

In D,' vol. ], p. 18S, Gabbriello,— 

Salviti Dio, che se' di grazia plena : 
Teco si trova il gran Signore Dio. 

In y, p. 98, Angel — Hayle ! Marie ! full of grace and blysse, 
Oure lord god is with }'e. 

In W, p. 74, Gabriel- 
Hay lie, Mary, and welle thou be, 
My lord of heven is wyth the. 

In Ch, vol. 1, p. 94, Gabriell— 

Heale be thou, Marye, mother ffree, 
Full of grace, God is with thee. 

In Co, p. J 12, Gabriel — 

Ave Mai'ia gratia j^lena, Dominus tecum ! 
Ileyl, fful of grace, God is with the. 

Mary's consent — 

In J, p. 50, Ainssy soit fait com tu me dis. 

In D, vol. 1 p. 189, Ecco I'Ancilla del Signore Dio : 

Sia fatto a me secondo il tuo dir pio.^ 

1 The use of the pronoun 'at' shows the expression to be old, otherwise the scribe 
would have changed it as elsewhere. The evident introduction of Mieiples' to alliter- 
ate with ' harrowe ' shows that the favorite expletive was considered necessary. 

2 N stands for Noah's Ark, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sharp's Diss. p. 224. 

3 D stands for A. D'Ancona, Sacre Kappresentazioni. 

•1 See the extract of the church service on p. 179 of the same work. 



134 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

In Y, p. 99, Goddis handmayden, lo ! me here, 

To his wille all redy grayd. 
In W, p. 75, I am his madyn at his hand. 

In Ch, vol. 1, p. 35, Loe ! Godes cossen meklye here. 
In Co, p. 114, Se here the hand-mayden of oure Lorde, 

Aftyr tin worde be it don to me. 

The stage direction — 

In J, p. 50, Cy descende 1 coulom qni soit fait par bonne maniere. 

In D, p. 189, Allora lo Spirito Santo dlscende sopra di lei, ed in 

cielo si fa grandissima festa, e I'Angelo ritorna in 

cielo. 
In Co, p. 114. Here the Holy Gost discendit with iij. bemys to 

our Lady, the sone of the Godhed vest with iij. 

bemys to the Holy Gost, the fadyr Godly with iij. 

bemys to the sone, and so entre alle thre to her 

bosom, and Mary seyth. 

It is absnrd to suppose, because of the above coincidences, that 
the writer of each English play had the Italian and French plays be- 
fore him. The Bible narrative was familiar to each writer. This 
sometimes necessitates the action, sometimes the language seems the 
natural outcome of the situation ; both reasons would operate as con- 
servative agents to prevent change in the church play„ I think one 
is forced to admit that there must have been a uniformity of action 
and of expressions closely connected with action, in the important 
situations in church plays, similar to that obtaining in the liturgy 
itself, and that, in many instances, the agreements of plays in short 
passages and in the sequence of action is due to the essential identity 
of the chiirch models from which these inlays sprang. 

But further, if it can be shown that the action of the Chester plays 
agrees with the action of other English plays at points where all or 
several disagree in action or accompanying words with the continen- 
tal plays, a divergence of the English church plays from the customs 
of the continent will be established, and the Chester plays will fall 
into the category of English plays, though in the Anglo-Norman 
tongue. 

Unfortunately, the French texts necessary for the settlement of 
this question are not accessible to me. I can simply contribute one 
item, and must pass on to other mattei's. A significant agreement 
between Ch and W may be a case in point. I refer to Peter's 
speech after catting off the ear of Malchns, — 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 135 

In Ch, vol. 2, p, 31, Goe nowe to Cayphas, 

And byde bym doe the righte. 

In W, p. 188, Go pleyn the to Sir Cayphas, 

And byd hyni do the right. 

The langnage in Y and in J is different, although the situation is 
the same. We return now to the discussion of the cycles. 

IV. The so-called Coventry plan's are, I think, the work of one 
author. They are of late date, I should say of the early part of the 
sixteenth century. They have little or no direct dependence upon 
the other cycles. It has been shown as probable that they were 
written in the northern part of East Anglia. 

I am reluctant to advance a theory for their origin, since I cannot 
offer sufficient confirmatory data, but I would suggest that they may 
be the work of some author connected with one of the great religious 
houses of the Fen District. These plays appear to me to rest upon 
church plays that have received their development at the hands of 
those closely connected with the ceremonial of religious life. 

It might be expected that plays, made in such a house for the 
instruction and diversion of rustics, would emphasize the homiletic 
element, and would draw largely upon the Apocrypha.' The fre- 
quent intrusion of Latin Avith explanatorj^ verses was also a char- 
acteristic of church plays. The stanzas of dimeters, pp. 159, 164, 
180, 348, 353, simulate the Latin hymns of the Christmas time and 
of the Resurrection service. A certain restraint pervades the plays, 
very different from the sjaontaneity of the York and Woodkirk plays. 

It would seem that these plays were recast by one writer into 
cyclic form. The fragmentary condition of many stanzas may 
ai'ise in part from imperfect re-working of the material ; but this 
conclusion cannot be drawn with confidence, since at this date the 
alternation of stanzaic schemes within a single play or poem seems 
oftentimes to have been favored for the sake of variety. I have 
nothing to offer concerning the indications that the cycle was in the 
hands of a traveling troupe, monkish or otherwise. 

V. The craft plays of Coventrj^ were in close connection with the 
York and Woodkirk cycles, as is proved by the dependence of the 
Weavers' play of Coventry and the ' Pagina Doctorum' of Woodkirk 
upon York XX. A common source must, I think, be postulated for 
the Coventry ' Nativity,' the Chester ' Salutation,' and the York XII. 

I For Apocryphal agreements in 'The Barrenness of Anna,' 'Mary in the Temple,' 
' Mary's Betrothment,' etc., see Hone. 



136 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Whether this source is an earlier play, or whether each is independ- 
ently based upon Luke, Chap. I, will be the theme of a later chapter.* 
VI. The cycle of Newcastleon-Tyne has disappeared, except the 
play of Noah's Ark. This play has been grievously modernized, to 
the destruction of tlie stanzaic structure. Here and there a sem- 
blance of the original stanza can yet be detected and the stanza 
restored, but such instances are rai'e. 

Noah Respondit. 

Even wo woi-th thou fouled sin, 

For all too dear thou must be bought, 

God for thanks he made mankind, 

Or with his hands that he them wrought: 

Therefore or ever you blind. 

You mind your wife and turn your thought, 

For of ra3' work I will begin. 

So well were me all forth brought. 

Y IX, stanza 12, contains the rime series — 'synne,' ' blynne,' 
' mankynne,' ' Wynne,' which enables us to restore the above rimes, 
' sin ' = ' synne,' ' mankind ' = ' mankynne,' ' blind ' = ' blynne,' and 
thus to restore the sense of the fifth line. This is then a double 
quatrain stanza, or the pedes of a Northern septenar stanza, possibly 
similar to Y IX. 

Other changes also are necessary. An improved reading for the 
first line would be — 

Ever wo worth the fouled synne. 

In the words, 'for thanks,' one fails to detect the verb 'vorK^nce,'" 
'forthinke," meaning 'repents.' 

Other portions of the play were, without much doubt, written in 
another stanza. This, then, is a play with two or more stanza forms ; 
probably a pieced play like some of those in W. The introduction 
of Deabolus is foreign to other known English plays, apparently, 
and indicates French influence, as does the stationary play-field of 
Newcastle. More than this we cannot determine from the scanty 
and corrupt remains of the Newcastle cycle. 

From this cursory view of the cycles, we return now to the York 
cycle, to question it in regard to the interdependence of its different 
plays. 

1 See Chap. XXIV. 2 Stratmann. s Halliwell. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 137 

XXI. 
THE PARENT CYCLE OF THE YORK MYSTERY PLAYS. 

As we have seen in the preceding chapter, the existing York cycle 
is a compilation, containing plays of very different styles and stan- 
zaic structure. In the earlier discussion of the life history of the 
Northern septenar stanza, it became evident that this stanza passed 
through well-defined phases, of which one phase at a time dominated 
the writers of its day. Therefore, since the different life stages of 
this stanza are found in the present York cycle, it becomes possible 
to date the plays relatively to each other by their stanzaic structure. 

The earliest form of the stanza found in the York plays — a struc- 
ture showing already marked evidence of deterioration — is the stanza 
of plays II, X, XI, XXIII, XXI V^ XXVII, XXXV, XXXVII, 
XLIV, and portions of XII, XV, XVII. This stanza is also found 
in a part of Woodkirk play XX, which has no correspondent in 
York. These plays are therefore older than York plays XXVIII, 
XXIX, XXX, XXXI, XXXII, which exhibit the stanza at a much 
later stage of its development. 

The questions that immediately confront us are two : first, do 
these plays represent an earliest cycle, which has been extended at 
later and different periods by additions from one or more sources? 
and, secondly, are these plays the work of one author? These 
questions merit a careful investigation. 

As regards the first question, it can be affirmed — 

1. That these plays are certainly older than the remainder of the 
York plays, with the possible exception of a few plays of, as it 
would seem, church origin. 

2. That they are the only plays of the York cycle, having a 
common stanza, that could possibly form a cycle. 

3. That they are older than the Woodkirk, true Coventry, and 
so-called Coventry cycles. 

The first point is proved by the stanzaic structure, which excludes 
all competitors, except for those stanzas directly dependent upon 
church or French influence.' The second position rests upon the fact 
that these plays include the Creation, Abraham and Isaac, the Christ- 
mas Cycle, the Crucifixion, and the Harrowing of Hell, the leading 
plays of every possible extended cycle. The third point requires 
further demonsti'ation. 



I See point 9, p. 127. 

Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 

10 



138 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

These plays are older than the Woodkirk and true Coventry 
cycles, because both W and Co borrowed from the York, though 
not from the extant text of the York. Since the text is a variant of 
the present York, it is probable that the borrowing was prior to the 
registration of the play. It is reasonable to suppose that actors' 
copies were collated with the registered play after the authoritative 
copy was in existence. 

The relationship of author's MS., registered play, and actor's copy 
must be finally made out for each play, even — where there has been 
patchwork — for each scene separately. It is sufficient for our pur- 
pose here to state that, in many places, a text better than the present 
York can be established by the readings of the other cycles ; there- 
fore, in those plays at least, the borrowing was earlier than the regis- 
tration. 

Moreover, in plays of the early septenar stanza, W and Co bor- 
rowed from Y, not Y and these from a common original. The 
proof of this lies — 

1. In the stanza, which does not occur without variation outside 
of the parent cycle. 

2. In the evidence of damage suffered by the stanza at the hands 
of redactors, which is serious in W and Co, and but slight in Y. 

3. In the fact that W pieces plays of Y with stanzas from other 
plays ; see Y XXXVII. 

As regards the question of authorship, I am of the opinion that 
the parent York cycle was the work of one author. This opinion 
rests upon characteristics of phraseology, riming words, style of treat- 
ment, uniformity of verse movement, caesura, and general rhythm in 
stanzas — matters that must be elucidated in extenso. 

We conclude, then,— 

1. That there was a parent cycle of plays at York. 

2. That W and the true Co borrowed certain plays from this 
cycle. 

3. That this cycle was the work of one author. 

What, then, were the plays that formed this earliest cycle ? My 
hypotheses are that it contained — 

1. All the plays of the characteristic stanza. 

2. Y VIII and IX as well. 

3. Also W, ' Conspiracio ' from "Cayphas" to "Tunc dicet 
Sanctus Johannes." 

The evidence in favor of the admission of Y VIII and Y IX to 
the cycle will be considered first. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 139 

In Y IX the stanza departs from the standard in the cauda. The 
typical Cauda is a quatrain ; the cauda of IX is a sestet, riming 
c d c c c d. To my mind this riming series shows Southern influ- 
ence. However, in every other particular, — alliteration, verse move- 
ment, caesura, the agreement with X and XI is very marked. How 
much this may mean we see by comparing the stanza schemes of X, 
stanza 1;' IX, stanza l;'^ and XXVI, stanza 4," 

It is well to remember that this Y XXVI is the plaj^ to which W 
' Conspiracio' answers, and, as we hope to prove later, supplanted the 
earlier play of the York cycle, as being more in accord with the 
later taste. 

The differences between these stanzas of IX and XXVI are more 
important than is the single circumstance of agreement in rime. 
They are the differences in alliteration and verse-movement that 
mark the degeneration of the stanza. XXVI is later than IX, and 
has its connections with XXX, XXXI, and the remainder of a small 
group of plays, of which the first supj^lanted the old ' Conspiracy,' 
and the rest presented the trials and various incidents prior to 
' Christ led up to Calvary.' This whole group, through style, verse- 
movement, and disorganization of stanza, reveals interesting aflSlia- 
tions with the so-called Co, and with certain plays of W." 

In Y VIII the stanza is equivalent to the pedes of IX. It would 
be nothing surpi-ising if an author who was experimenting with the 
cauda of his favorite stanza should try the experiment of dropping 
it altogether. The York cycle, however, contains another play in 
this double quatrain measure, play XXXIX, for the second stanza 
of which the following scheme can be formed — 




This scheme is very different from that of XXVI. The verse- 
movement and alliteration agree well with those of VIII and IX, 
but the language seems of a later date. 

It is well to remember that this was a favorite stanza for the four- 
accent verse that sprang from the iambic tetrameter of the Latin, 

1 See p. 116. 2 See p. 118. 3 See p. 118. * See p. 127. 



140 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

and was widely cultivated in Southern England through French influ- 
ence. In this verse alliteration was never structural, but, especially 
on the borders of the Northern district, simulated structural allitera- 
tion so closely at times, that other tests must be relied upon to detect 
the affiliations of the verse. In this case the tests will be those that 
would reveal a common authorship. 

In the poems of this stanza the riming series and the i-iming words 
are important indications of authorship. In each typical stanza there 
must be four rimes, of which two must contain a series of four words 
each. Redactors may distort the stanza and modernize, or translate 
into another dialect, the riming words ; still, so much of the original 
riming system will remain intact that restoration is commonly a 
comparatively simple task. 

Furthermore, the riming series were few, and the number of words 
of one rime was limited. The poets were so closely bound by the 
fetters of their stanza that a new riming series of six words was a 
discovery of prime importance, and the changes were rung in series 
of four almost to the limits of possible permutations. 

This test, then, of a riming series and of the words that form such 
a series is easy of application, and would afford a ready solution of 
the problem of authorship, were it not for the remarkable uniformity 
in these sei'ies as used by different writers. Here lies a serious diffi- 
culty. Certain riming series were common to all writers of English 
for centuries, if, indeed, they are not now employed by the authors 
of hymns. Such are the rimes upon ' be,' ' here,' ' will,' ' noght,' 
' land,' etc. Other correspondences were confined to certain poems 
in common with the York cycle ; thus the Northern Gospel of 
Nicodemus shows such agreements with the plays of the early 
septenar stanza that one is led to suspect the existence of a school 
of poetry' with headquarters at York, but with disciples throughout 
the North, and continuing through several steps of stanzaic change. 

The necessity of a division of riming series into three classes 
becomes, therefore, apparent. These classes are formed of — 

1. Those series that were used by all writers of Middle English 
verse with masculine rimes. 

2. Those series that seem to mark a common tradition among 
certain poets working in a somewhat similar manner. 

3. Those series that appear to arise from the individual choice of 
the author. 

1 This subject merits a special investigration. 



1 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 141 

Our present search is concerned with the third division only, 
although the recognition of the other categories will aid us in the 
interpretation of the data obtained. 

For these rime tests I have selected Y X, as a play undoubtedly 
belonging to the parent cycle ; Y IX, the one whose authorship is 
in question because of the irregular cauda ; Y VIII, one in a differ- 
ent stanza through loss of the cauda ; and Y XXXIX, one agreeing 
in every particular, so far as it has yet been examined, with VIII. 
As a measure for the plays I take Y XI, which is unquestionably of 
the parent cycle. 

XI agrees with X and with no other in rime series upon ' wiste,' ' fell,' 'name,' ' wise,' 
' faj'le,' ' said,' and ' kepe.' 

The identical rimes among these are — 

kepe, schepe, X, 2t5, XI, 8. 

same, hame, name, blame, X, 4. 

same, hame, blame, name, X, 31. 

wise, saci'yflce, X, 7 and X, 19. 
The Included rimes are- 
fell, telle, X, 17. 

telle, fell, emell, Israsll, XI, 3. 

dwelle, telle, XI, 9. 

tell, Israjll, dwell, emell, XI, 16. 

tell, Israjll, hell, dwelle, XI, 18. 

name, same, XI, 30. 

name, blame, same, shame, XI, 15. 

same, hame, name, blame, X, 4. 

same, hame, blame, name, X, 31. 

saide, grathide, X, 13. 

grathid, brayde, saide, payed, X, 16. 

saide, paied, XI, 30. 
These rime series number 24. 
XI contains 63 different varieties of rime. 

X contains 47 different vai'ieties of rime. 
The rime series of XI number 134. 

The rime series of X number 129. 

The agreeing rime series constitute 12/134 of all in XI, and 13/129 of all in X. 
The riming words agreeing number 14 in 406 lines of XI, and in 380 lines of X, or 1 in 
27 lines of X. 

XI agrees with IX and with no other in rime series upon 'before,' 'men,' 'borne,' 
'flitte,' ' mene,' 'greve,' 'encresse,' and 'marre.' 

Identical rimes among these are- 
wore, before, sore, (no) more, IX, 20. 

before, wore, sore, more, XI, 23. 

sesse, encresse. IX, 17. 

sese, encrese, XI, 4. 
Included rimes are— 

wene, mene, IX, 5. 

mene, scene, grene, wene, XI, 9. 

greve, myscheue, IX, 8, 

meve, greve, leve, mj'scheue, XI, 24. 

sesse, encresse, IX, 17 and XI, 4. 

pees, press, sees, encrese, XI, 2. 

pees, sesse, messe, encresse, XI, 14. 



142 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



pees, encresse, sese, lese, XI, 28. 

ferre, warre, XI, 38. 

ferre, raarre, narre, warre, IX, 5. 
These rime sei'ies number 30. 
XI contains 63 different varieties of rime. 
IX contains 53 different varieties of rime. 
Ttie rime series of XI number 134. 
The rime series of IX number 93. 

The agreeing rime series constitute 18/134 of all in XI, and 13/93 of all in IX. 
The riming words agreeing number 20 in 406 lines of XI, and in 330 lines of IX, or 1 in 
16 lines of IX. 

XI agrees with VIII and with no other in rime series upon ' fall ' and ' newe.' 
Among these there are no identical rimes. 
Included rimes are— 

newe, trewe, XI, 13. 

trewe, hewe, brewe, newe, VIII, 3. 

sewe, newe, rewe, ti-ewe, VIII, 14. 

newe, trewe, rewe, sew, XI, 33. 
These rime series number 7. 
XI contains 63 different varieties of rime. 
VIII contains 39 different varieties of rime. 
The rime series of XI number 1.34. 
The rime series of VIII number 38. 

The agreeing rime series constitute 4/134 of all in XI and 3/38 of all in VIII. 
The riming words agreeing number 7 in 406 lines of XI, and in 151 lines of VIII, or 1 in 
21 in VIII. 

XI agrees with XXXIX and with no other in no rime series. 
XI contains 63 different varieties of rime. 
XXXIX contains 18 different varieties of rime. 
The rime series of XI number 134. 
The i-ime series of XXXIX number 40. 

XI agrees with IX and X and with no other in 20 rime series. 
XI agrees with VIII, IX, and X and with no other in 65 rime series. 
XI agrees with XXXIX, IX, and X and with no other in 30 rime series. 
VIII and IX, not XXXIX, have 11 series in common. 

VIII and XXXIX, not IX, have 1 series in common. 

IX and XXXIX, not VIII, have 4 series in common. 
VIII, IX, and XXXIX, have 9 series in common. 

The more important of the above results may be tabulated as 
follows — XI in agreement with — 





X. 


IX. 


VIII. 


XXXIX. 


IX and 
X. 


VIII, IX 
andX. 


TX, X, 
XXXIX. 


Eiming sounds 




7 


8 


2 











Riming series 




24 


30 


7 





20 


65 


30 


Fractional part of total 




number of rimes 


in 
















measured play 




1/10 


1/7 


1/12 





1/18 


1/4 


1/9 


Word agreements.. 


\ 


lin27 
lines. 


linl6 

lines. 


lin21 
lines. 





-- 


-- 


-- 



Charles Davidson— English Mystery Plays. 143 

This table reveals a closer agreement between IX and XI than 
between X and XI, yet X and XI have the same stanzaic structure. 
It establishes the connection of VIII with the cycle, since VIII ranks 
with X in agreement with XI, and indeed ranks above X, when we 
consider that VIII is contined to four-word series, as it has no cauda, 
and that this author appears to express his preferences, so far as 
they depai't from the literary conventions of his day, more often in 
the two-word series of the double quatrain. It sharply separates 
XXXIX from VIII. That this division is not the result of accident 
is further demonstrated by the behavior of XXXIX in combination. 
The common rimes of VIII, IX, and X agree with XI in one rime in 
four, but the common rimes of XXXIX, and IX and X, agree with 
XI in only one rime in nine. 

In accordance with these results, we conclude that VIII and IX 
belong to the cycle, and that XXXIX does not. As a confirmatory 
fact, we note that the subjects of plays VIII and IX are interde- 
pendent. If one play belongs in the cycle, the other must go with it. 

The third hypothesis must now be considered. Is W ' Conspiracio' 
from " Cayphas " to " Tunc dicet Sanctus Johannes " the work of the 
author of the York cycle ? 

This question should admit of an answer through the rime tests 
employed in the preceding investigation. It is not necessary to give 
the steps in detail. The results obtained for comparison with those 
of the table are 8, 31, 1/6, and 1 in 18 lines, a confirmatory result. 

Let us beware, however, of accepting these tests as absolutely 
conclusive of single authorship. They do seem to establish a com- 
mon membership in a parent cycle, to separate the work of one age 
from that of another, but the distinguishing of individual authorship 
within a school of literature is a very different matter. The number 
of rime series known to the Northern writers was limited. Individ- 
ual preferences had but little freedom. A similar test made upon 
the first four hundred lines of the Northern Evangelium Nicodemi 
gives nearly as favorable an answer for single authorship ; yet it 
seems almost certain that this poem is by a different author of the 
same school, probably of a slightly earlier date. 

The poet of the Nicodemus was individual in his use of riming 
plurals, 'dedes,' 'lawes,' of rimes upon 'now,' 'stout,' 'house,' for 
his fondness for certain series, 'Cayphas,' 'pas,' 'was;' 'Pilate,' 
'gate.' The latter he uses seven times out of eleven rimes on 'gate,' 
although the rime itself is found in none of the plays examined 
excepting once in XL In these details, meagre it is true, and of 



144 (Jharles Davidson — EngUsh Mystery Plays. 

little value in the days of literary liberty, but significant when they 
appear in work that knew no innovations, one comes to feel that 
here is a personality, seeking expression that shall not be an echo. 

Through a like scrutiny the literary workmanship of these plays 
reveals to the mind of the investigator evidences of unity of ti'eat- 
ment that, to my mind, are worth far more than rime tests. 

Again, these results from rime tests must be received with caution 
for two additional reasons ; first, because the text needs thorough 
emendation, and the quality of the riming sounds must be estab- 
lished by wide comparisons, together with the careful definition of 
sub-dialects, before we can form our categories with confidence ; 
and, secondly, because the classification of data has not been ex- 
tended over a sufliciently wide area to admit of safe generalization. 
These are tasks for many scholars. My purpose is accomplished, if 
my data are sufficiently accurate to establish the unity of the parent 
cycle. To that extent I believe them trustworthy, and also that, 
taken in conjunction with many rather intangible stylistic evidences, 
they form a reasonable basis for belief in a single authorship. 

Let us see, then, what plays constitute this parent cycle. The list' 
is as follows — 

The Parent Cycle. 

Y II, The Creation, to the fifth da3^ 
Y VIII, The Building of the Ark. 

Y IX, Noah and his Wife, the Flood and its waning. 

Y X, Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac. 

Y XI, The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt, the Ten 

Plagues, and the Passage of the Red Sea. 

Y XII, The Annunciation, The Prologue, 

Y XV, The Angels and the Shepherds. — The first three stanzas 

and the last four, omitting the comic episode. 
Y XVII, The Coming of the Three Kings to Herod ; the Adora- 
tion. — The Salutation, stanzas 22, 23, 24, has perhaps 
been reworked, or may have been written in accord- 
ance with established custom. Salutations of similar 
style appear elsewhere in mediaeval poetry. 

Y XX, Christ with the Doctors in the Temple. 

Y XXIII, The Transfiguration. 

Y XXIV, The Woman taken in Adultery. The Raising of Laz- 

arus. 

1 Cp. Hohlfeld in Anglia 11, p. 248. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 145 

W XX, Conspiracio — From "Cayphas" to " Tunc dicet Sanctus 
Johannes." Supplanted in York. 

Y XXVI r, The Last Supper. 

Y XXXV, Crucifixio Christi. 

Y XXXVII, The Harrowing of Hell. 

Y XLIV, The Descent of the Holy Spirit. 

Concerning the above plays a few remarks are necessary. Y II is 
a monologue. Y III is like it in verse movement, rimes, and stylistic 
peculiarities, but is written in quatrains. Y II cannot stand alone. 
There must have been either a continuation, that rehearsed the crea- 
tion of Adam and Eve, and was superseded by Y III, or Y IH must 
have been in the parent cycle. 

Y III has been transcribed repeatedly. Two copies of it stand in 
the Register.' It has been greatly modernized by a scribe of South- 
ern proclivities. ' Sail ' occurs 24 times in Y II, ' schall ' not at all ; 

"'schall' occurs 19 times in Y III, 'sail' not at all. 'I' is found 28 
times in Y II, '3^' not at all; 'I' is found 12 times in Y III, 'y' 
occurs 6 times. The rimes agree sufficiently well. Y II has 32 
varieties of rime; Y HI, 28 varieties. The two plays agree in 15 

. rimes. 

If we knew more of the method of presentation, we might be able 
to judge better of the relationship of these two plays. Y II is a 
monologue. I snspect that it was largely explanatory of a picture 
pageant carried upon the pageant wagon. Perhaps the pictures 
Avere successively exposed to view, as different portions of the world 
were created. The parallel to the pageants of royal entry with one 
speaker, who explained the tableau, is sufficient. 

In Y III, it would seem that the tableau stood fully formed. The 
speaker points to each part as he says — 

In heuen ar aungels faire and bright, 
Sternes and planetis J?er courses to goo, 
hQ mone serues vnto he nyghte, 
The Sonne to lighte he day also. 

In erthe is trees, and gresse to springe, 
Beestes and foules, bothe grete and smale, 
Fisshys in Hode, all other thynge, 
Thryffe and haue my blissynge alle. 

But the words of Adam and Eve appear to me conventional, as 
bearing marked traces of the church play. Y III may be an old 
church play that has supplanted the original play of the cycle. 

1 York Plays, p. 14. 



146 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

There survives a curious proof that there was a Northern play on 
this theme, and in the characteristic stanza. On the margin of the 
MS. are written, as following line 44, these lines* — 

And leyd your lyves in good degre, 
Adam here make I the 
a man of mykyll myght. 
Thys same shall thy subget be 
And Eve her name shall hight. 

These lines form the cauda of a stanza, together with the last verse 
of the preceding pedes. They are in an Elizabethan hand, and must 
be a quotation from some i^lay then extant. Can it have been the 
Beverly play ? In any case it establishes the existence of such a 
play, and reinforces the hypothesis that the play of the parent cycle 
had been supplanted by a church play of an early type. The problem 
must be left for the present unsolved. 

Y XI closes with a song, W adds a tribute of praise. 

In Y XII, the prologue only belongs to the work of our author. 
Whether the remainder of his i^lay has given place to a later play, 
or whether he took a popular play, wrote a prologue for it, and put 
it into his cycle, is a question to be determined with the examination 
of all the plays that are paraphrases of Luke I. This will be the 
theme of a later chapter. 

The author of this cycle did not utilize the comic episodes. As 
the plays departed further from the church play, the dramatic ele- 
ment became more prominent, and a literary convention called for 
some humorous remarks about the angels' singing. This episode 
was then inserted, probably with little excision. 

Y XX will be given a special examination in connection with the 
plays derived from it. 

Y XXIV has lost a leaf at a very important action. Jesus has 
evidently written on the ground the sins of the accusers, wherein 
the play agrees with the theological notions of the day." 

W XX begins with the introduction of Pilate, with verse move- 
ment after the later fashion. The differences between the earlier 
and later styles are well exemplified in the stanzas assigned to Pilate 
and Caiaphas at the beginning of the play. The later part of this 
play is in a different style, and covers the incidents of the Last 
Supper, as does Y XXYIL The speech of Jesus is a paraphrase of 
portions of the Gospel of John. This will be considered in another 
chapter. 

I York Plays, p. 15. a See the Coventry Mysteries, p. 320. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 147 

"Whether a cycle would close with the Descent of the Holy Spirit 
is to my mind somewhat doubtful. The Italian short cycle already 
cited ' exhibits a play of this character, with the plays of Burial and 
Resurrection as introductor3^ It is possible that it was considered 
on theological grounds a fitting close, though most cycles passed 
on to the Judgment Day. On the other hand, it would be nothing 
surprising, if the Mercers had discarded their old play for a play of 
the later fashion. The York play, ' The Judgment Day,' is a late 
play, and will be examined in another chapter. 

These sixteen plays, then, can be segregated as an ancient cycle, 
whicli stood as prototj'pe for the craft cycles of Woodkirk and 
Coventry, and, probabl}', of Beverly. There are reasons, however, 
for believing that the demand for expansion came soon, and that 
certain additions had already been made when the Woodkirk com- 
piler looked to York for a part of his material. 

We will next consider the status of the plays of the parent cycle 
in the other cycles, and then examine into the evidences for the 
expansion of this cycle prior to the establishment l)f the Woodkirk 
plays. 



XXII. 
THE PARENT CYCLE IN THE WOODKIRK PLAYS. 

The following plays of the parent cycle are found, in whole or in 
part, in the Woodkirk plays. Y XI = W ' Pharao ; ' Y XYII = W 
' Oblacio Magorum,' one stanza only ; Y XX = W ' Pagina Docto- 
rum ;' Y XXXVII = W ' Extractio Animarum.' 

The relation of W 'Pharao' to Y XI can be best shown by con- 
trasting corresponding verses that shall be as nearly consecutive as 
possible. I have chosen the first twenty-three lines of the York play; 
the verse that seems to me the nearest to the original is given as the 
second in each case, and the reason for my decision is suggested by 
the word following. These comparisons can hardly be classed as 
text emendations — any authoritative settlement of the questions 
arising would lead me too far afield — but they will serve to illustrate 
the relative purity of the texts. 

O pees, I bidde }>at noman passe, Y, 1. 

Peas, of payn that no man pas, W. Alliteration. 

And take good hede of hym that has, W. 

And takes gud heede to hym Jjat hasse, Y, 3. Cp. XXXVII, 1. 37. 

1 See p. 77. 



148 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Toure liff all haly in his hande, Y, 4. 

Your helthe alle holy in hys hande, i W. Alliteration. 

I am hys hayre as ag'e wyjle has, W. 

I am hys hayre as side will asse, Y, 7. Elde, asse. 

I wold my myghte were knowne, W. 

I will my myght be knawen, Y, 11. Tense. 

And of youre wordes looke that ye seasse, W. 

And of youre sawes I rede you sees, Y, 17. Alliteration. 

And at my liste lose liff and lyre, Y, 20. 

And to my list bowe ly fe and lyre, W. Unstressed alliteration. 

My Lord, if any here were, W. 

My lorde, yf any were, Y, 31. Verse movement. 

If we myghte com thaym nere, W. 

And we wist whilke thay were, Y, 33. Alliteration. 

With these comparisons we place the following additions and 

omissions. W adds — 

After stanza 1. Full low he shalle be thrawne 
That harkyns not ray sawe, 
Hang-ed hy and drawne, 
Therfor no boste ye blawe. 

After stanza 9. Do of thy shoyes in fere, 

Wyth mowth as I the melle. 
The place thou standes in there 
Forsoth, is halowd welle. 

After stanza 10. Bot I wylle not so do. 

In rae if thay wylle trast 
Bondage to bryuge thaym fro. 
Therfor thou go in hast. 

In stanza 33. In no mans time that ever was borne. 
Pharao. Telle on, belyfe, and make an end. 

In stanza 38. Yit were it better that thai yede. 

W omits— 
In stanza 33. Sir kyng, we banne hat we wer borne, 

Oure blisse is all with bales blende. 
In stanza 35. Als wele on myddyng als on more. 
In stanza 28. Lorde, war they wente Jian walde it sese. 
So shuld we save vs and our seede. 
also, Late hym do fourth ! ]je devill hym spede ! 

Y stanza 31 is paralleled by W. The stanza illustrates the methods 
by which W often reduces a 4-stress verse to a 3-stress line. The 
rime series, ' pay,' ' betray,' ' garray,' ' slay,' makes it probable that 
this stanza is an excerpt from some other play.^ 

Y, stanza 31. For at oure will now sail we wende, 
In lande of lykyng for to lende. 
1. puer.— Kyng Pharo, that felowns fende, 

Will haue grete care fro this be kende. 
Than will he schappe hym vs to shende. 
And gone his Ooste aftir V8 sends. 



1 But 'helthe' is a favorite word, cp. Y XXXVII. W uses 'helth' for 'heele,' lines 
38, 106. 2 See p. 143. 



Charles Damdson — English Mystery Plays. 149 

Moyses.— Beis noght aferde, god is youre frende, 
Fro alle oure fooes he will vs fende. 
■jjarfore comes furthe with me, 
Haves done, and drede you noght. 
ii. puer.— My lorde, loved mott Jjou bee, 
Jjat J>us fro bale has brought. 

W.— Com furthe, now salle ye weynd 
To land of lykyng you to pay. 
Primus Puer.— Bot kyng Pharao, that fals feynd, 
He will us eft betray; 
Fulle soyn he wille shape us to sheynd. 
And after us send his garray. 
Moyses.— Be not abast, God is our freynd, 
And alle oure foes wille slay ; 
Therfor com on Avith me. 
Have done and drede you noght. 
Secundus Puer.— That Lord blyst might he be. 

That us from baylle has broght. 

Certain expressions and substitutions of words for differences in 

dialects are worthy a passing notice. A favorite oath in W — 'the 

ragyd dwylle,' 1. 251, 325, 403. 

' in mynde ' for ' haue I mende,' W, 131. Misunderstood. 

'way ' for ' wothis,' W. 138. wothis = harm. Misunderstood. 

' lepre ' for ' serpent,' W, 154. Criticism of his text. 

'socoure' for 'belde,' W, 180. Dialectal change. 

' Brethere ' for ' Beeths ' (?), W, 197. 

' wyle ' for ' wynne,' W, 220. 

'loselle ' for ' lurdayne,' W, 229. 

' wyth ' for ' Hopp,' W, 245. Dialectal change. 

' trow ' for ' hopp,' W, 275 (?). 

' lang' for ' lande,' W, 282. 

'bond' for 'garre feste,' W, 308. Dialectal change. 

' myst ' for ' myrke,' W, 344. Dialectal change. 

' fals' for 'felowns,' W. 363 (?). 

These changes for dialectal reasons probably mark not alone a 
difference of vocabulary in the two districts, but also a change of 
obsolescent words for those of accepted currency. This is another 
proof that the compilation of the VVoodkirk c^^cle is considerably 
later than the date of the parent cycle of York, 

W ' Oblacio Magorum,' to which Y XVII corresponds, shows but 
slight indebtedness to the York play. The greater portion of the 
play is in the stanze a a a b a b. This was a favorite stanza for 
church poetry. The play was universally given in connection with 
the Christmas service. It is probable that the compiler incorpoi'ated 
a church play into his cycle. One of two alternatives is certain, 
either he had the York play before him, or at a later date the York 
introduction of the angel displaced the original message. 

From the compiler's known method of work, I judge that he com- 
pared the church play with the York. 



150 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

The 'Nuncius' enters with the York hitrodviction, "Mi lorde ser 
Herode." Mary salutes the Magi AAdth the same words as in York, 
" Sir kynges." These agreements, however, do not necessarily argue 
a borrowing from York. They may be conventional entrances 
widely adopted in church plays.' Many other characteristics agree 
in general treatment, as might be expected with common clerical 
traditions of more than a century's acceptance. 

In some points, however, these plays follow different traditions. 
We know, for example, from the Latin plays extant, that the intro- 
duction of the Doctors with their books^ was common,' and that 
sometimes the kings were summoned' by a messenger, sometimes 
appeared unannounced. In these particulars W and Y follow differ- 
ent models. This would seem to argue that the play in question was 
used in some church not in close affiliation with York, jiossibly in the 
Midland district. 

The direct appropriation of material from the York play is con- 
fined to one stanza, stanza 27 of the York play." This is taken with- 
out change other than a re-arrangement of the Cauda by the transpo. 
sition of a verse. The original rime a b a b becomes abba in the 
Woodkirk play. 

Y XX=W ' Pagina Doctorum,' true Co 'The Weavers' Pageant, 
Ch ' The Purification,' so-called Co ' Christ Disputing in the Tem- 
ple.' The relationships here are so significant, and the results flow- 
ing from them so important, that a separate chapter will be given to 
this play. 

Y XXXVII was made the basis for W 'Extractio Animarum,' and 
some unknown play was used to supplement it. This play, therefore, 
illustrates the i-everse of the method pursued in ' Oblacio Magorum,' 
but agrees with ' Pharao.' 

The first eight verses of Y, twelve of W, are different. In the W 
verses I seem to detect a lyric, carol-like quality, such as seems pres- 
ent in portions of W ' Conspiracio et Captio.' 

W adds the following passages. Before stanza 5 Isaias speaks 
eight verses — 

Isaias. Adam, thrugh thy syn 

Here were we put to dwelle 
This wykyd place within, 
The name of it is helle; 
Here paynes shalle never blyn 
That wyliyd ar and felle, 
Loue that lord withe wyn 
His lyfe for vs wold selle. 

1 See p. 134. 

2 So in the play of the twelfth century at Nevers, Romania, vol. 4, p. 4. Also cp. 
Freising and Orleans plays, p. 83. » Not so in Jubinal, Myst^res inedits, vol. 2, p. 95. 

* This was discovered by Herttrich, p. 4. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 151 

Before stanza 9. Rybald. Sen fyrst that helle was mayde, 
And I was put therein 
Siche sorow never ere I had, 
Nor hard I siche a dyu ; 
My hart begynnys to brade. 
My wytt waxys thyn, 
I drede we can not be glad, 
Thise saules mon fro us twyn. 

With considerable re-arrangement of parts, after the words, "At- 
tolite," etc., the line, " Out, hai-ro, out ! what deville is he." This 
confusion arises from the rejection of the translation accompanying 
the Latin lines. 

After line 140. If that brodelle com ne 

With vu ay won he shalle. 

After line 12(5. David says— Nay, withe hym may ye not fyght, 
For he is kyug and conqueroure. 
in the place of — I lei'ed leuand with-outen lees, 
He is a kyng of vertues clere. 
After line 130. Of hym commys alle this light 
That shynys in this bowre. 

After line 136, eight lines are inserted, the last eight of stanza 12 
having been used earlier. 

How sir Sathanas, com nar 

And hark this cursid rowte ! 
Sathanas. The deville you all to-har! 

What ales the so to showte ? 

And me, if I com nar 

Thy brayn bot I bryst owte. 
Belzabub. Thou must com help to spar, 

We are beseged abowte. 

A transposition of Jesus's speech takes place, and the discarding 
of the Latin, while the translation is retained — Y gives both — -is 
made the excuse for the introduction of two additional lines. 

And let my folk furthe gone 



Wheder ye wille or none. 

Before stanza 17. Rybald. What art thou that spekys so ? 
Jesus. A king of blys that hight Jesus. 
Rybald. Yee, hens fast I red thou go. 
And melle the not with vs. 
Belzabub. Oure yates I trow wille last, 
Thay ar so strong I weyn, 
Bot if oure barres brast 
For the thay shalle not twyn. 

Before line 198, in place of— Telle lucifer alle is unlokynne. 

Belsabub exclaims — Harro ! oure yates begyn to crak. 
In sender, I trow, they go. 
And helle, I trow will alle-to-shak ; 
Alas, what I am wo ! 



The last two additions improve the dramatic quality of the action. 



152 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Before line 201, Satan exclaims, 

Yee, hangyd he thou on a cruke. 

Before stanza 26, Sathanas. Whi, and wille thou take theym alle me fro? 
Then thynk me thou art vnkynde ; 
Nay I pray the do not so, 
Vmthynke the better in thy mynde. 
Or els let me with the go, 
I pray the leyfe me not behynde. 
Jesus. Nay tratur, thou shalle won in wo. 
And tille a stake I shalle the bynde. 

This serves for the expansion of a favorite motive. Before line 
349, a substitution of four verses by Jesus for two by Satan. 

Satan. Alias! for dole, and care, 
I synke in to helle pitte. 

Jesus. Com now furtlie my childer alle, 
1 forgyf you youre mys ; 
Withe me now go ye shalle 
To joy and endles blys. 

These excerpts are evidently full double quatrain stanzas in four 
cases, viz: before stanzas 5, 9, and 26, and in stanza 12. Before 
stanza 17 are two half stanzas, and single half -stanzas occur before 
lines 198 and 349. I think it safe to conclude that the play was 
written in double quatrain stanzas. 

Whether these stanzas were composed of 4-stress verses is a more 
difficult question. These excerpts are prevailingly 3-stressed, but our 
redactor often reduces 4-stress lines to 3-stress by dropping adverbs, 
connectives, and unimportant words ; thus in stanza 25, lines 2, 7, 
and 8, and in a notable way lines 198-200. 

I do not think that structural alliteration was present, though this 
author sometimes effaced it beyond recognition. I conclude from 
the above considerations that the play was not a Northern play. 

The redactor followed his own judgment also in the matter of ex- 
cision. It is not necessary to quote the lines of the York play that 
he dropped. They are, inclusive, lines 15-18, stanza 3 entire, lines 
51-2, 56, 58, 60, 122, 124, 127-8, 181, 183, 339-40, 343-4, 347-8. 

In some few particulars the W text is more accurate than the Y ; 
Y, line 370— 

Ofte tymes tolde vntill vs, 

is assigned with the remainder of stanza 31 to * John Baptista.' In 
his mouth it lacks point, as he is a new-comer to hell. W gives the 
last four lines of the stanza, including this line, to Moses, which 
makes the line in character. Y, line 113, gives A for the proper name 
which W gives as Anaballe. Y, line 135, reads by blunder of the 
scribe 'lady' where W writes correctly 'lad.' The aid that W can 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 153 

afford toward a restoration of the text is, however, much less in this 
play than in Y XI. 

There are evidences that the author of W had a slightly illegible 
copy of Y. Such mistakes as 'fraude ' for ' frewte,' line 10 ; ' night ' 
for ' light,' line 85 ; 'bright' for 'sight,' line 90; ' shalle the sow' 
for 'telle the nowe,' line 218, point to a difficulty of decipherment. 

Dialectal changes similar to those made in Y XI* occur, 

'boght' for 'getyn,' 1. 11. 'tokyn ' f or ' signe,' 1, 19, 41, 

' shedyng ' for ' bying,' 1.12. ' myrth ' for ' grace,' 1. 20. 

' wille ' for ' schall,' 1. 13, 22. ' know ' for ' schewe,' 1. 22. 

♦ helth ' for ' heele,' 1. 38, 106. ' can ' for ' gune,' 1. 4Y, 286, 

' darknes ' for ' mirke,' 1. 53. ' water ' for ' floode,' 1. 76. 

' shewid ' for ' mustered,' 1. 86. ' thurt ' for ' neyd,' 1. 242. 

'ment' for 'preched,' 1. 291. 'wille' for ' liste,' 1. 313. 

' trew ' for ' soth,' 1. 327. ' sete' for ' selle,' 1. 342, 

'In blys to dwelle' for ' wonne in mirthe,' 1. 228. 

'It shalbe lang' for 'all schall nogt gang,' 1. 303, 

' Rebald,' 1. 99, is understood as a proper name, and, as 'Rybald,' is 
assigned to one of the devils, ' Glory ' for 'gilery,' 1. 160. Now 
Igilery' means 'deceit;' consequently, this guess was rather wild, 
'like' for 'obitte,' 1. 269, This attempt to Anglicize the Latin 
'obit' was not appreciated. The indebtedness of W to the York 
cycle is not confined to these plays of the parent cycle. We shall 
return again to the discussion in a later chapter. 



XXIII. 

THE WOODKIRK PLAY, ' CONSPIBACIO ET CAPTIO.' 

This play, which has preserved a fragment of the parent cycle, 
lost to the York cycle, is a pieced play, containing, within the com- 
pass of a single play, work of the earliest and of the latest period, 
as well as something by that author whose plays mark the beginnings 
of English comedy. It is a canto, containing in its eight hundred 
and eighty-five verses specimens of almost every age and style of 
mystery play from the date of separation from the church service 
until the spirit of the Reformation transformed the mystery into the 
morality, the chronicle history, and the comedy. 



1 See p. 149. 
Trans. Conn. Acad., Tol. IX. October, 1892, 

11 



154 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

A. The introduction consists of six stanzas by 'Pilatus' in the 
late style.' The verses of the first stanzaic section might easily be 
read with five or six stresses." The rime is very striking, a a a a 
b c c c b. 

This same stanza, with ir^ore or less irregularity of structure, is 
found in nine plays : 'Processus Noe;' 'Prima Pastorum;' 'Secunda 
Pastorum;' ' M^nus Herodes;' 'Conspiracio et Captio,' first six 
stanzas; 'Colaphizacio ;' ' Flagellacio,' from 'Primus Tortor' to 
'Johannes Apostolus ;' 'Processus Talentorum,' perhaps, though the 
confusion is extreme ; the devil play in ' Juditium,' which is the 
development of a minor motive in the York 'The Judgment Day.' 

These plan's are notable in that they contain the first attempts in 
English literature at the construction of a comedy of manners. In 
other mystery plays we find shrewd references to existing customs, 
comic episodes for the diversion of the audience ; thus in Ch, ' Mulier ' 
in ' The Harrowing of Hell,' Joseph's part in 'The Weavers' Pageant,' 
and elsewhere, but here only does the comedy seek its own ends with 
dramatic movement. 

There is an evident attempt at faithful presentation of the life of 
the day. The detail of the meal in 'Prima Pastorum;' the farce, the 
complaints about landlords and taxation, against the weather, the 
remarks about the bixrden of many children in poor families, the 
fondness for proverbs, and the comments upon wedlock — all of 
which occur in 'Secunda Pastorum' — mark this writer as the herald 
of a new era, the pioneer of an advance in English literature. 

The later satire of manners is fitly introduced by hiixuJ^ Tutivillus 
in ' Juditium' is a precursor of the Vice, far more trenchant and dra- 
matic than many a later Vice, whose remarks lay bare the follies, 
extortion, and oppression of the day. How far this writer had 
advanced bej^ond his fellows in dramatic power is revealed by a 
comparison of Joseph's attempts at home thrusts in ' The Weavers' 
Pageant" with the action in 'Processus Noe' and the 'Secunda Pas- 
torum.' In the first the phrasing is awkward, retards the action in 
many cases ; in the second the thought comes sharp, quick, and the 
action knows no halt. 

This author neglects no opportunity of exposing the iniquities -of 
his day ; even in the six introductory stanzas of the ' Conspiracio et 
Captio,' Pilate represents a later generation of politician : 



1 See p. 123. 2 Schipper, vol. 1 , p. 391. 

8 The Presentation in the Temple: A Pageant as originally represented by the Corpo- 
ration of the Weavers of Coventry : Edinburgh, Printed by the Abbotsford Club. 



Charles Davidion — English Mystery Plays. 155 

For I ara he that may make or mar a man, 
My self if I it say as men of cowrte now say ; 
Supporte a man to-daj', to-morne agans him than, 
On both parties thus I play and fenys me to ordan 

The right ; 
Bot alle fals indytars. 
Quest mangers and jiirers. 
And alle thise fals out ryders, 
Ar welcom to my sigigt. 

The coarseness of the early English comedy, of Gammar Gurton's 
Needle, is here, but it is probably no coarser than the life it depicts. 
The shepherd folk, the Mak of the hovel, the peasant and his wife, 
were prone to call a spade a spade. The fun is old English fun, 
rude, coarse, outspoken, and fond of hard knocks, but not lascivious. 

But where in the history of these cycles does this author stand ? 
The stanza is late. In ' Conspiracio et Captio' his work is an intro- 
duction; in ' Flagellacio ' it is the play to which a foreign introduction 
has been prefixed. I judge him a late contributor to a cycle already 
long established. His plays seem to me a direct contribution to the 
cycle, rather than plays elsewhere popular which finally gained a 
position in the cycle, because his work in ' Conspiracio et Captio ' is of 
the nature of a ncAV introduction to a play with which he was con- 
versant. His other plays, especially those of the shepherds, super- 
seded the plays of the original compilation. 

Possibly one significant agreement may point to his church aflilia- 
tions, since it seems to prove an acquaintance with one set of church 
plays rather than another : — ' 

Noah's answer to Deus, " What art thou," W. 

Noah's answer to Angel, " What a.rt thou," Newcastle. 

Noah's answer to Deus, " A ! Lorde, I lowe J'e lowde and stille," Y. 

Noah's answer to God, "O, Lorde, I thanke thee lowde and stille," 
Ch. 

It is not impossible that light might be shed upon the literary in- 
terpendence of the churches by an exhaustive study of such passages. 

B. The passage from " Cayphas " to "Tunc dicet Sanctus Johan- 
nes " is the fragment of the parent cycle whose characteristics we 
have already discussed. ° 

C. This passage extends from " Tunc dicet Sanctus Johannes " to 
the words — "Now wote ye what I have done," in Jesus' speech. 
This is introductory to the final insti'uctions of Jesus to his disciples. 
It is written in couplets, which, towards the last, approach the suc- 
ceeding extract in the literalness of its rendering of the Biblical nar- 

1 See p. 132. « See p. 143. 



1 56 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

ration. Such passages, as we have ah-eady shown/ are to be attrib- 
uted to the hand of the compiler himself. 

D. The passage, beginning — "Now wote ye what I have done," 
and closing with the introduction of Pilate, is of a dififerent char- 
acter. With the exception of the part assigned to ' Trinitas,' 
it is almost an exact translation of the Biblical narrative, though 
usually taken in sequence. If we begin for example, at the words — 

In my fader house, for sothe. 
Is many a wonnyng stede, 

the author paraphrases very literally the following passages, — John 
XIV, 2, 3, 6, 18, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30, 31, Mark XIV, 33, 38, 34, Luke 
XXIT, 42, Mark XIV, 37, etc. The selection seems to be made with 
reference to dramatic quality, when possible ; thus, he chooses from 
Mark, " Simon, dormis ?" in preference to Luke's, "Et ait illis : Quid 
dormitis ? " 

The stanza is the quatrain. One may venture to say that the 
verses were originally alternate 4's and 3's, i. e. septenar couplets 
with riming cffisuras, but the alterations have been such that we 
cannot pronounce upon the verse with certainty. 

E. The passage, beginning with 'Pilatus' and closing with the 

introduction of 'Malcus Miles,' shows signs of connection with the 

York ]>lays upon the same subject, or was modeled upon work of 

that school. 

W begins— Peas I comaunde you, carles unkynde. 
To stand as styllc as any stone. 
In donyon depe he shalbe pynde, 
That will not sesse his tong- anone. 
In Y XIX Herod exclaims— 

Stents of youre steuenes stoute, 
And stille as stone ge stande. 
In Y XXXir Pilatus commands— 

And loke Jjat ye stirre with no stritfe but stand stone still. 

These may be stock expressions, but the use of them would argue 
some community of interest between the authors. 

F. Beginning with 'Malcus Miles,' lour stanzas are inserted into 
the play, whose structure we recognize as that of the so-called Cov- 
entry plays rabababcdddc. It would seem that this passage 
and that marked E must be late interpolations, for the words of 
Jesus — 

" Ryse up, Peter, and go with me," should follow the last speech of 
Jesus, i. e. the close of passage D, without break. 

1 See p. 139. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 157 

There are, then, in this cento seven distinct passages, the work of 
six different authors. Indeed, I suspect that single sentences, which 
were favorite expressions of the day, are imbedded in O, but am not 
sufficiently conversant with the literature of the day to locate them. 

We will now consider another play which exhibits marked cor- 
respondences in all the cycles. 



XXIV. 
THE PLAY OF THE ANNUNCIATION. 

Y. The Annunciation, and Visit of Elizabeth to Mary. 

W. Annunclacio. 

W. Salutacio Elizabeth. 

Ch. The Salutation and Nativity. 

Co. The Salutation and Conception. 

Co. The Visit to Elizabeth. 

S & T. The Pag'eant of the Shearmen and Taylors of Coventry. % 



The Prologue of Y is in the stanza of the parent cycle. We will 
make that the basis of the comparison of Prologue : 

Y, 3. Howe man was made with-outen mysse. 
W, 2. And Adam with my handes hath wrought. 

Y, 3. And sette whai'e he sulde euer haue bene. 
W, .5. To won ther in, as that I weynd. 

Y, 6. And was putte oute fro paradys. 
W, 7. Then I hyme put out of that place, 
Y, 7. And sithen what sorouse sor warre sene 
Sente vn-to hym and to al his. 
W, 11. For he has bought his syn fulle sore. 
Y, 9. And howe they lay lange space 
In helle lokyn fro lyght. 
W, 13. Thise v thousand yeris and more, 
Fyrst in erth, and sythen in helle. 
Y, 11. Tille god graunted Tjam grace 
Of helpe, als he hadde byght. 
W, 14. Bot long therin shalle he not dwelle, 
Outt of payn he shalle be boght, 
I wylle not tyne that I have wroght. 
W, 15-43. Will send his Son. 

Y, 17-132. The statements of the prophets, in Latin with English exposition. 
W, 43-50. As his prophets have said. 

Y, 134-144. Luke says that God sent Gabriel. 
W, 51-74. Deus commands Gabriel to go. 



Co. Prologue by Conteraplacio. Parallel passages are— 
To Y, 9. Ffowre thousand six undryd four yere 1 telle 
Man fifor his offens and ffowle f oly. 
Hath loyn geres in the peynes of helle. 



158 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



To Y, 11. Good Lord, have on man pyte. 

Have mende of the pray our said by Ysaie. 
The Virtues plead and the Son resolves to go. 
Deus commands Gabriel to go. 
S & T. Prologue by Isayc.— A general prologue. 
Ch. Has no prologue. 

The sequence of thought between W and Y is too marked for 
accident. The passage in W is in coiijjlets. I think that we must 
conclude that the compiler of W was dissatisfied with the long non- 
dramatic prologue of Y, re-wrote the first stanza, following closely 
the sequence of thought, and added what he considered more appro- 
priate mattei-. The use made by Y of Latin passages with English 
exposition, as in his 'Harrowing of Hell,' was in accoi'dance with 
the traditions of church plays. 

No sign of any knowledge of the York Prologue is shown by the 
writers of the other plays. 

We proceed to examine the play itself, and here we add the 
correspondent passages from the Bible. 

Y, 145, Ang. Hayle ! Marie ! full of grace and blysse, 

Oui-e lord god is with Jje, 

And has chosen lie for his, 

Of all women blist mot Jjou be. 
S T. Gaberell. Hayle mai"e full of grace owre lord god ys with the 

Aboue all women hat evur wasse 

Lade blesside mote thou be. 
Ch. Gabriell. Heale be thou, Marye, mother tf ree. 

Full of grace, God is with thee, 

Amonge all wemen blessed thou be, 

And the frute of thy bodye. 
W. Gabrielle. Haylle Mary, gracyouse, 

Haylle madyn and Godes spouse. 



Co. Gabriel. 

Luke 1, 28. 
42. 

Y 149-53. 

S&T. 

Ch. 

W. Marie. 

Co. 

Luke 1, 29. 

Y153. 
S&T. 

Co. 

W. 

Ch. 
Luke 1, 30. 



Of alle vyrgyns thou art qwene. 

3 lines. 
My lord of heven is wyth the. 
Heyl, tt'ul of grace, God is with the. 
Amonge alle women blyssyd art thu. 

Ave, gratia plena: Dominus tecum: Benedicte tu in mulieribus, et 
benedictus fructus ventris tui. 

Mary expresses surprise. 
Mary expresses amazement and trouble. 
Mary expresses amazement and trouble. 
What is thi name ? 
Mary marvels at the greeting. 

Qua; cum audisset, turbata est in serraone ejus, et cogitabat qualis 
esset ista salutatio. 

Ne drede J>e nought, yn\ mylde marie. 
Dred the nothyug meydin of this. 
Mary, in this take ye no drede. 
Goodly lady, have thou no drede. 
Marye, ney dreed thee naughte this casse. 
Ne timeas, Maria. 



Charles Damdson— English Mystery Plays. 



159 



Y 155-6. 



S&T. 

Co. 
W. 

Ch. 

Luke 1, 30. 
Y 1.58-9. 

S&T. 
Ch. 



W. 

Co. 

Luke 1, 31. 

Y, 160. 

S&T. 

Ch. 

W. 

Co. 

Luke 1, 31. 

Y, 161. 

S& r. 

Ch. 

W. 

Co. 

Luke 1, 32. 

Y, 162. 

S&T. 

Ch. 

W. 

Co. 

Luke 1, 32. 

Y, 163-4. 



For ]>ou has fun soueranly 
At god a grace ouer othir all. 

3 lines. 
Salutyng the here asse most exselent 
Whose virtue aboue all othur dothe abownde. 
Ffor at God grace flownde have ye. 
For thou has fonden alle thyn ooue. 
The grace of God. 
With greate God founds thou haste 
Amonge all wemen especiall grace. 
Invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum. 

In chastite of thy bodye 

Consayue and bere a childe Jjou sail. 

For thou Shalt consey ve apon ]jis grownd. 

Therefore, marye, thou mone 

Conseave and beare, I tell thee, 

A child. 

Thou shalle conceyve within thy sydys 

A chyld of myght. 

Ye xall conceyve in your wombe indede 

A child. 

Ecce concipies in utero, et paries fllium. 

His name Jesu gall }?0u calle. 



His name Jesus shalbe. 

Calle hym Jesum. 

His name of you Jhesu clepyd xall be, 

Et vocabis nomen ejus Jesum, 

Mekill of myght J^an sail he bue. 

So greate shalbe never non as he. 

Myghtfulle man shalle he be that. 

He xall be grett. 

Hie erit maguus. 

He sail be God and called God sonne. 

And called Godes sonne. 

And Godes son shalle he hat. 

The son of the hyest clepyd of kende. 

Et Filius Altissimi vocabitur. 

Dauid sege, his fadir free. 

Sail God hym giffe to sytte vppon. 



S&T. 
Ch. 
W. 



Co. 

Luke 1, 33. 

Y, 165-6. 



Shall geve hym David his fathers see. 

My Lord, also shalle gyf hym tylle, 

Hys fader sete David, at wylle. 

Therein to sytte. 

And of his ffadyr, Davyd, the Lord xall geve hym the se. 

Et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David patris ejus. 

Als kyng for euer regne sail hee. 

In Jacob house ay for to wonne. 



S&T. 
Ch. 



W. 



Co. 
Luke 1, 33. 



In Jacobes house raigne shall he. 

With full mighte ever more. 

He shalle be kyng in Jacob kyn. 

His kyngdom shalle never blyn. 

Reynyng in the hous of Jacob, of whiche regne xal be non ende. 

Et regnabit in domo Jacob in ajternum. 



IGO 



Charles Da'jidson — English Mystery Plays. 



T, 167-8. Of his kyngdome and dignite 

Shall noo man erthly knaw no con. 

S & T 

Ch. That suche renowne and royalltye 
Hade never non before. 

W & Co 

Luke 1, 33. Et regni ejus non erit fluis. 

Y, ITO, 173. Howsuldeitbe 

I knawe no man 

S & T. I mai-vell soore liow thatt mabe. 

Mans company knev I nevur yett. . 

Ch. How maye this be? 

In synne knewe I no worldlye wighte. 
W. How shuld itbe? 

I cam never by man's sj^de, 
Co. In what manere of wyse xal this be? 
Ffor knowyng of man I have non now. 
Luke 1, 3i. Quomodo fiet istud quoniam virum non cognosco? 
Y, 177-8. Ang. The Halygast in ]je sail lighte, 
Hegh vertue sail to ^pQ holde, 
S & T. The wholle g-ost in the schall lyght 
And schado thy soil soo with vertuo, 
Ch. The Holye Ghoste shall in thee lighte 
From God in magistie, 
And shadowe thee seemlj-e in sight ; 
The Holy Gost shalle light in the, 

And his vertue, 
He shall umshade, and fulfylle. 
Co. The Holy Gost xal come fro above to the. 

And the vertu of hym hyest xal schadu the so. 
Luke 1, 3.5. Spiritus sanctns superveniet in te, et virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi. 

Y, 17.5-80. The holy birthe of the so bright, 
God soune he sail be calde. 
S & T. This chylde that of the schalbe borne 
Ys the second persone in trenete. 
Ch. Theirfore that holye, as I have teighte. 

That thou shalte beare, through Godes niighte. 
His Sonne shall called be. 
W. The child that thou shalle here, madamc, 

Shalle Godes son be callid by name. 
Co. Therefore that Holy Gost of the xal be bore. 
He xal be clepyd the son of God says. 
Luke 1, 35. Ideoque et quod nascetur ex te Sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. 
Y, 181-2. Loo Elyzabeth, hi cosyne, ne myght 
In elde consayue a childe for aide. 
S & T. Be holde Eylesabeth thy cosyn clene 
The wych wasse barren & past all aa'e. 
Ch. Elizabeth, that barren was. 

As thou male se, conseaveid has 
In age a sonne through Godes grace. 
W. Elisabeth, thi cosyn, that is cald geld. 

She has conceytfed a son in elde. 
Co. And so Elyzabeth your cosyn thore. 
She hath consey vid a son in hyre age. 
Luke 1, 36. Et ecce Elizabeth cognata tua et ipsa concepit lilium in senectute sua. 

Y, 183-4. This is the sexto moneth full ryght. 
To hir that baran has ben talde. 



Charles Davu/son — English Mystery Plays. 161 

S «& T. And now with chyld sche hath bene 

Syx monethis and more asse schalbe sene. 
Ch. The seixte month is g'one nowe againe 

Seith men called her barene. 
W. And this is, who wylle late. 

The sext monethe of her eonceytate. 
That g-eld is cakl, 
Co. This is the sexte monyth of hei'e passage. 

Of here that clepyd was bareyn. 

Et hie mensis sextus est illi, qut^ vocatur sterilis. 



Luke 1, 36. 

Y. 

S&T. 

Ch. 



For to god onpossibull nothyng mabe. 
But nothinge to Godes mighte and mayne 
Impossible ys. 
W. No word, lady, that I the bryng, 
Is unmyghtfullo to heven hyng, 
But alle shalle hald. 
Co. Nothynge is impossybie to Goddys usage. 
Luke 1, 37. Quia non erit impossibile apud Deum omne verbum. 
Y, 189-93. Goddis handmayden, lo ! me here, 
To his will all redy gra.yd. 
Be done to me of all manei-e. 
S & T. Hys hy pleysuris forto full fyll 

Asse his one hand mayde I submyt me. 

Ch. Loe ! Godes cossen meklye here, 

Leve that yt falle in such maiiere. 

W. I am his madyn at his hand, 

Be done to me in alle thyng. 
Co. Se here the hand-mayden of our Lorde, 
Af tyr thi worde be it don to me. 
Luke I, 38. Ecce ancilla Domini, flat mihi secundum verbum tuum. 
Y. Scene II. Mary visits Elizabeth and salutes her. Luke 1, 40. 

S&T. Joseph's trouble about Mary : then the coming of the shepherds. 
The visit is omitted. 
Ch. Mary visits Elizabeth.— Elizabeth, nice God thee see ! 
W. Joseph's trouble about Mary. Next play 'Salutacio Elizabeth.' 
Co. Play xii. ' Joseph's Return ; ' then, play xiii, ' Visit to Elizabeth.' 
Y, 205-208. Blissid bejjou anely 

Of all women in feere. 
And Ije frute of thy body 
Be blissid feere and nere. 
Ch. Marye, blessed moste thou be. 

And the frute that comes of thee 
Amonge wemen alle. 
W. Introductory conversation of thirty lines; then— 
Blyssed be thou of alle women. 
And the fruyte that I welle ken. 
Within the wombe of the. 
Co. A long introduction ; then— 

Blyssd be thou amonge alle women. 
And blyssed be the frute of thi womb also. 
Luke 1, 42. Benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus fructus ventris tui. 
Y, 209-213. ]pis is ioyfull tydyng 

Jjat I may nowe here see, 
]je modyr of my lord kyng, 
J)us-gate come to me. 



162 



Charles Bamdson — English Mystery Plays. 



Ch. 



Co. 

Luke 1, 43. 

Y, 213-16. 



Ch. 



Wonderlye nowe marvailes me. 
That Marye, Godes mother f reye, 
Grectes me this of symple degreey. 
And this tyme may I blys, 
That my lordes moder is 
Comon thus unto me. 
How is it that the modyr of God me xulde come to? 
Et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me? 
Sone als ]pe voyce of yn\e haylsing 
Mog-ht rayn neres entre and be, 
Jje childe in my wombe so yenge. 
Makes grete myrthe vnto he. 
When thou me greeteste, sweete Marye, 
The childe stox-ed in my bodye, 
For greate joye of thy companye. 
For syn that tyme f ulle welle I wote, 
The stevyn of angelle voce it smote. 

And rang now in myne ere ; 
A selcouthe thyng is me betj'de, 
The chyld raakys juy, as anj^ byrd. 

That I in body bere. 



Co. 
Luke 1, 44. 

Y, 217-240. 
Ch. 

Co. 



Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuiB in auribus rteis, exultavit 
in gaudio iufans in utero meo. 

A free rendering of the ' Magnificat,' broken by a stanza by Elizabeth. 

Luke 1, 46 and 47 quoted with slight changes, amplified in English, and 
followed by a paraphrase of the remainder of the ' Magnificat.' 

Mary gives the Magnificat, sentence by sentence, and Elizabeth trans- 
lates each sentence. 



The above comparisons lead naturally to four conclusions : — 

First. All lists of agreeing passages, where the agreement arises 
from the literal translation of dramatic passages of the Biblical nar- 
rative, are misleading when used to supjjort a theory of direct inter- 
dependence among the extant plays. 

Secondly. The earliest church plays gave with literal fidelity 
the Biblical narrative when it was phrased in conversation, i. e. was 
adapted to dramatic presentation. Later redactors were reluctant 
to change passages that were already dramatic, and yet adhered 
closely to the sacred story ; hence the unchanged play spread 
through the churches. The writers of cycles were conversant with 
the plays, each with those of his church, and adopted such passages 
with but few changes, since the movement was dramatic, and the 
language faithful to the sacred text ; hence a striking similarity 
arose where sometimes no connection existed. 

Thirdly. Until as thorough-going an agreement is shown between 
the church plays of France and those of England as is hei'e shown 
among the plays of different cycles, we must claim the Chester play 
as a product of England. Here lies another strong proof that the 
Chester plays were written on English soil. 



Charles Davidson— English Mtjstery Flays. 163 

Fourthly. It would seem that the play in question must have 
been originally the work of one author, that this author wrote it in 
Latin fo^I- a church play, and that this play was adopted for some 
reason in many churches. I should place its composition at an 
earlier date than that of the cyclic plays, for the writer of the York 
parent cycle incorporated it in his cycle, writing for it a prologue of 

his own. 

I believe that the writer of the W play, not the compiler of the 
W cycle, had this York play before him, since he recast a part of 
the prologue ; but he .departed further from the Biblical text than 
any other writer, exhibiting such independence as the compiler of 
W nowhere shows. The Ch and Co plays were probably taken 
directly from the play in the church best known to the author. 
The stanzaic structure agrees sufficiently well in each cycle with 
the author's known style to render it probable that the play was 
translated independently in each case. The Shearmen and Taylors' 
play may be a church play, or may be in part the York play, as is 
certainly the other extant Coventry play. 

Finally. A word here about the redactor of the true Coventry 
plays may be in place. Robart Croo considered that he had accom- 
- plished a laudable undertaking when he had modernized the Cov- 
entry plays. His execrable spelling, pointless interpolations, and 
attempts at comic writing, especially in the part of Joseph in the 
Weavers' play, mark him as a man of little education and less taste. 
He, or his son, appears to have been a necessary factotum of the 
mystery play business in Coventry. One sometimes wonders if he 
were not a manager who, for a consideration, presented the plays 
for one or more gilds. I do not know that any one has directed 
attention to his name in the gild accounts as given by Sharp. The 
items are as follows — 

Smiths' Pageant. 
1563— It' to Robart Croo for ij leves of ore play boke viij d. 

Drapers' Pageant. 
1557— paid to Robart Crowe for makyng of the boke for the pag- 

gen XX s. 
1560— It' payd to Robart Croo for pleayng God iijs. iiij d. 
15t50— payd to Cro for mendyng the devells cottes xx d. 
1562— Itm payde Robert Croo for a hat for the pharysye xij d. 
1556— payd to Crowe for makyng of iij worldys ij s. 
[In 1560 the sum paid him was 3 s. 8 d.\ 
— payd him more for same iijs. viij d. 
Sharp states that Croo was employed also by the Cappers and 
Shearmen's Companies in a similar manner. 



164 Charles Davidson — Frnglish Mystery Plays. 

XXV. 
CHRIST WITH THE DOCTORS IN THE TEMPLE. 

This play, Y XX, is a play of the parent cycle. It is also, with 
variations, the ' Pagina Doctorum ' of the Woodkirk cycle, the 
* Weavers' Pageant ' of Coventry, and ' The Purification ' of the 
Chester cycle. Certain relations exist also between it and the Cov- 
entry play, ' Christ Disputing in the Temple.' As this is the only 
play of the parent cycle that has found its way into four gild cycles, 
it is worthy of a somewhat minute analysis. 

The introduction, — In W of Co a play of the prophets comes first. 
It is unlike the play of any other cycle. How this play could find 
place as an introduction to ' Christ in the Temple ' in a cycle which 
contained the Salutation, is difficult of explanation. There is every 
reason for believing that these cycles at first followed strictly the 
sequence of the Biblical narrative. This transference of the pla}^ of 
the prophets to a position subsequent to that of the Salutation must 
be a late innovation, though I see no reason for attributing it to 
Robart Croo, who has enough to answer for without it. 

The episode of Simeon, Anna, and the Angels, — The agreement 
among the plays is that of a common church tradition reinforced by 
literary convention. This ej^isode, together with that of Joseph and 
Mary's joui-ney to the temple, bears the mai'ks of the later literary 
fashion in most of the plays, I cannot say that it does in the 
Chester play, but in the York ' Purification ' the later style is very 
evident, and many traces of it appear in W of Co, and Co. 

Joseph and Mary homeward bound. — Y opens with this, W of 
Co agrees throughout the scene. Croo's adaptation places them 
upon a ' for pageant,' yet puts words into Mary's mouth that imply 
the journey, Ch introduces Mary with eight verses that are evi- 
dently jjatchwork. Mary says that she wishes the child had not left 
them, but advises in tlie first stanza borrowed from the York play 
that they proceed on their journey. Her later appearance in the 
temple is wholl}' unaccounted for. The remainder of the first stanza 
in Y is omitted in Ch. 

The introduction of the Doctors. — In Y and W of Co the Doctors 
prepare to announce the law to all comers. In Co a similar subject 
receives very dififerent treatment. In W the talk is of the prophecies 
of Christ, 



Charles Davidson— English Mystery Plays. 165 

Jesus's salutation. — 

T. Lordingis, lowe be with you lentte. 
And mirthis be va-to this mene. 
W of Co. Lordis moclie lowe witti you be lent. 
And pes be amonge this company, 
W. Masters, luf be with you lent. 
And mensk be unto this meneye. 

The salutation and the attempt of the Doctors to send the child 
away are not found in Ch. k different salutation is found in Co, 
and also an attempt to send Jesus away. 

Primus Magister and Secundus Magister address Jesus.— i he 
speeches agree in Y, W, and W of Co. 

Tertius Magister addresses Jesus.-In Y, W, and Ch he invites 
Jesus to come and learn ; in W of Co he asserts that the child is 
too young, but his speech is evidently modeled on Y in phraseology, 
and follows a cue given in the next speech of Primus Magister in Y. 

Jesus's reply.-This agrees in Y, W, and W of Co, is expanded in 
Ch, with some slight likeness to Co. 

The Doctors answer.-Y gives this in four verses, W agrees, W of 
Co gives two verses to Primus Magister and two to Secundus Mag- 
ister. Ch gives the four to one speaker, and adds four as an expan- 
sion of the statement that Jesus is too young. _ 

Jesus's reply.-This agrees in Y and W, is slightly expanded m 

W of Co, omitted in Ch. ^ . w f n • 

Secundus Magister answers. -Agreement m \ and A\ ot Co ; in 

W he speaks the first two verses and Tertius Magister the remaining 

four. (This was probably the original plan.) Ch gives Secundus 

Magister four lines of different content. 
Jesus declares his power— 

The holy ghost has on me light, 

in four verses. Agreement of Y, W, W of Co, Ch. 

Primus Magister answers.-This agrees in Y and W, is paraphrased 
in W of Co, is expanded from two to four verses in Ch. 
Jesus declares — 

Certis, I was or ye. 
And schall be aftlr you. 

In Y W and W of Co, Primus Magister replies in a long speech. 
Jesus states that he will declare the truth. Primus Magister won- 
ders where the child could have learned such wisdom. In the above, 
Y, W of Co, and W agree, W furnishing in some points the better 
text. Ch departs from the model, transferring from a later position 



166 Charles Davidson — JEnglish Mystery Plays. 

a speech of Tertius Mag. and of Primus Mag. — each speech of four 
verses — in favor of sending Jesus away. 

Secundus Mag., in W of Co Tertius Mag., expresses the hope that 
Jesus has come " to salf e oure sare." Here Ch agrees even in rime- 
series, though with variation of wording. 

Jesus offers to give proof. — Tertius Mag., Primus Mag. in W of 
Co, asks for the first commandment. This is omitted in Ch. 

Jesus replies that they have their books, and invites them to read. 
Ch departs slighly from the model. 

Primus Mag., Secundus Mag. in W of Co, answers — 

I rede this is the flrste bidding-. 

The remaining three lines agree closely in language. 

Jesus expounds the two commandments of love to God and love to 
man, in eighteen verses in Y and W. These lines W of Co cuts 
down to four verses. 

Primus Mag., Tertius Mag. in W of Co, asks him for the remain- 
ing commandments. This interruption is omitted in Ch, 

Jesus gives the commandments, with interesting differences among 
the plays. — In Ch the version is free and not minute ; in Y literal 
with omission of explanatory phrases ; in W some three verses are 
generally added to the Y statement ; W of Co stands between Y 
and W, but nearer to W. Second Mag. in Y and W, Tertius in Ch, 
Primus in W of Co, declares that Jesus speaks the truth. Tertius 
Mag,, and Primus Mag. in Y, W, and W of Co, are in favor of send- 
ing Jesus away, lest he should rob them of their fame. These 
speeches have been transferred in Ch to an earlier position in the 
play. This is a proof that the order of the play in the other cycle 
is older than that of Ch, an important point. 

Mary and Joseph lament because they cannot find their child.— In 
this Y, W, and W of Co agree, but Ch omits this introduction of 
their return. Mary discovers Jesus sitting among the Doctors. In 
Y, W, and W of Co Jose[)h expresses thankfulness ; in Ch there is 
no interruption of Mary's remarks. Mary requests Joseph to go to 
Jesus. Here the Ch rime-series proves the derivation of the play 
from Y. Joseph dares not meddle with men of might " in f urres 
fyne." In this all plays agree. 

Mary tells Joseph that they will respect his age. Joseph responds 
that he does not know how to address them. 

Mary offers to go with him. 

Joseph wishes Mary to go first — This little episode is omitted in 
Ch, but appears to belong to the original play. 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 167 

Mary addresses Jesus. — Agreement of Y and W. Immaterial 
changes in W of Co, speech reduced to four verses of free paraphrase 
in Ch. 

Jesus replies. — Agreement among W of Co, Ch, and Y. W adds 
verses after the manner of W in the ' Harrowing of Hell.' 

Joseph addresses Jesus in Y and W, but Mary addresses Jesus in 
W of Co and Ch. This is a significant difference. 

An angel closes the Ch play. In Y and W the closing agrees, 
although W has preserved the proper assignment of parts to the 
Doctors, which in Y have all been given to one speaker. W of Co 
shows Croo's handiwork in a tedious closing. 

Such, then, is the play of ' Christ with the Doctors in the Temple.' 
A few inferences can be drawn from these facts : — 

First. The play, as found in W of Co, divides into three parts : 
the Play of the Prophets; the Play of Simeon, Anna, and the Coming 
to the Temple; the Play of Christ among the Doctors. With the last 
only have we any concern. 

Secondly. The original play was the present York play, the slight 
errors of the scribe of the Register being eliminated. 

Thirdly. The compiler of W took the Y play, but not from the 
Register, and interpolated or expanded according to his known cus- 
tom, but with fcAver changes than usual. 

Fourthly. W of Co, in the matter of the commandments, appears 
to lean upon W rather than upon Y. 

Fifthly. Ch, because of the transposition of the two speeches of 
the Doctors, is probably later than the other plays, and because of 
agreement with W of Co in Mary's speech, when Joseph speaks in 
the other plays, is without much doubt a borrowing from Coventry 
before the days of Robart Croo, i. e. before 15 — . This dependence 
upon W of Co does not, however, apply to the whole plaj^ in Ch. 
The scene of Simeon and Anna is in the metre of the cycle, the 
scene of Christ in the Temple is in quatrains, 

. Sixthly. It is demonstrated, then, that the craft-gilds of Coventry 
were conversant with the gild plays of the North, and that the Ches- 
ter plays form also a composite cycle, as truly as do the plays of W 
and Y, though composite to a less extent. 

If the plays of the remaining craft cycles, those of Newcastle-on- 
Tyne, Beverley, Worcester, and others if there were others, were ex- 
tant, it is probable that many other points of agreement could be 
established. These pla3^s were not acted in a corner. The Mercers 
of Shrewsbui'v fined a brother that absented himself from their 



168 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

Corpus Christi procession to visit the play at Coventry.' The 
people flocked to these plays from distances that were then consid- 
ered great. Nothing could be more reasonable than that the players 
of one city should take note of the successful plays of another, and 
seek to incorporate such plays into the home cycle. 



XXVI. 

CORIIESPONDENCE OUTSIDE OF THE PARENT CYCLE. 

In the Woodkirk plays are found portions of three York plays not 
included in the parent cycle. These York plays are — 

Y XXXIV. Christ Led up to Calvary. 
Y XXXVIII. The Resurrection. 

Y XL VIII. The Judgment Day. 

The York play, ' Christ Led up to Calvarj^,' agrees in subject with 
W 'Flagellacio,' which has been already the subject of our discussion.'' 
We have recognized one scene of the tormentors as the work of our 
earliest comedy writer, to whom we have also assigned certain other 
portions of the W cycle. 

The second scene begins with ' Johannes Apostolus,' and corre- 
sponds to the second scene of the York play. An examination of 
this may inform us as to the genesis of the play. 

Stanza 10. W impairs verse movement by introducing 'so,' 'we,' 
substitutes ' Caipbas ' for 'bushoppe,' 'fled' for 'went,' 'fals witnes' 
for 'soteltes,' destroys alliteration four times. W omits stanza 11, 
gives stanza 12. A leaf is lost in Y. Portions of stanza 13, and of 
one following the lost leaf and numbered by Miss Smith 14, and 
stanza 15, bring the Y play to the introduction of Jesus bearing the 
cross. W apparently agrees in general with the lost Y, but intro- 
duces Mary's attempt to take the cross, and departs otherwise from 
the Y stanzas extant. 

W may paraphrase Y stanzas 16 and 17, or these stanzas may 
depend directly upon the Biblical narrative as given in some church 
play. 

Y stanza 19 follows in W. W omits Y 20 and the first part of 
Y 21. In Y the women leave in stanza 21, but in W the}^ must 
have left in Y 19, thus abridging the altercation with the soldiers. 

1 Hibbert, F. A. The Influence and Development of English Gilds, p. 63. 

2 See p. 155. 



Charles JJmndson — English Mystery Flays. 169 

W and Y agree for the remainder of Y 21, W omits two speeches 
in Y 22, agreeing with Y in the last of the stanza. W contains Y 
23 and 24, omits Y 25, gives 26, 27, 28, 29, and closes. 

It is evident that the York play is the older, and has been cut 
down for insertion into the Woodkirk. 

The Woodkirk play suffers resolution into — 

First. An introduction of Pilate, in four stanzas. 

Secondly. The scene of the tormentors, which was written by 
the author of ' Processus Noe,' 'Prima Pastorum,' 'SecundaPastorum,' 
'Magnus Herodes,' Introduction to 'Conspiracio et Captio,' and 'Pro- 
cessus Talentorum.' 

Thirdly. The remainder of the play, which is the York play, 
scene second, Avith omissions and slight alteration. 

We will next consider the play, ' The Resuri-ection.' 
Y contains five stanzas before the centurion is mentioned, W six. 
These stanzas are in the same metre in the two versions, and, so far 
as I can determine, of equal age. The seventh stanza in W is irreg- 
ular through an attempt to fuse two stanzas, the second of which is 
Y 6 with the omission of two verses. This would argue an attempt 
to piece the W introduction to the Y play. The plays agi'ee in 
stanzas 6 and 7. York then omits twenty-five lines of the original 
play, which W gives. These contain an account of the marvels for 
which the line in Y — 

What may J>es meruayles signifle? 

prepares. Y substitutes stanza 8 for this passage. 

Throughout the remainder of the play there is occasionally the 
displacing of single stanzas ; thus, stanzas 22, 32, 44, 47, 63, 66, 67, 
and 69 of the York play do not appear in the Woodkirk, and full 
stanzas of W, after Y lines 114, 126, 186, 388, are different from the 
York, though following the thought closely. 

The most noteworthy insertion is that of the monologue of Jesus, 
which W has in common with Chester. 

The variations between these plays are less marked than w^e have 
found them hitherto. Both writers use the same metre, and the 
variant portions are so welded to the common text that neither Y 
nor W is the type to the exclusion of the other. I have fancied 
that the variants of W were more lyrical than those of Y, but cannot 
state it with certainty. 

Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. IX. October, 1892. 

12 



170 Charles Davidson — EnglisJi Mystery Plays. 

It would seem that in the time of these later plays the poets were 
conversant with a considerable body of devotional poetry. They 
wrote, taking excerpts and turns of expression from contemporaneous 
literature, and we shall find it difficult to estimate the independence 
of any single author, unless we saturate our minds with the non- 
dramatic poetry of their day. 

The discussion of Y 'The Judgment Day' need not delay us long 
The ' Juditium ' is the corresponding W play. The Y play is 
throughout by one author. The W play displaces the first eighteen 
stanzas hy a new introduction, all of which is lost except the last 
stanza. The second wicked soul follows with three stanzas agreeing 
in W and Y.' W then inserts thirty-two lines which are spoken 
by 'Quartus Mains,' after which it continues Avith Y 22. 

The two striking features of the play are, first, the non-dramatic 
character of the second scene, Avhich might very easily be an adap- 
tation of a devotional monologue of Deus or Jesus, such as abound 
in the devotional poetry of the day ; and, secondly, the introduction 
of the satirical comedy of Tutivillus in W, mention of which has 
been made in an earlier chapter. 

In closing this discussion of the affiliation of the cycles, it may be 
well to emphasize the relation of church plays to certain agreements 
that exist among the cyclic plays, since Herttrich^ and Hohlfeld* have 
cited such coincidences as proof of interdependence among the cycles. 
We have stated above the reason for distinguishing the coincidences 
which accompany notable actions as correspondences due to familiar 
knowledge of the plays through frequent repetition rather than 
through acquaintance with texts. 8uch sentences do not argue deri- 
vation from a common text, but rather dependence upon church 
plays in which a conventional expression accompanies a markworthy 
action. 

Such expressions abound in the plays, and further reference to 
them would be unnecessary, were it not for the prominence that 
other investigators have given them. Suffice it here, that I consider 
of this character Ilerttrich's reference to Y XVIII, and Hohlfeld's to 
Y XIII, XVII, and XXXVI. As to the verses culled by Hohlfeld 
from Y XLIII and W XXIV, they are so literally translated from 
Mark XVI, 17-18, that I think them unsafe data for any argument 
of direct connection between the plays themselves. 

1 In Y XXXIV the third soldier is named Sir Wymond. In the Romance of Athelston 
the earl of Dover is Sir Wymond. Cp. Die Romanze von Athelston in Englische Studien, 
vol. 13, p. 33a. 

s Herttrich, p. 6. s Anglia, vol. 11, p. 254. 



Charles JDa^ndson — English 3Iystery Plays. 1*71 

XXVII. 
CONCLUSION. 

In the foregoing pages an attempt has been made to explore one 
of the sources of the English drama, and to solve some of the prob- 
lems presented to us in the mass of inchoate dramatic material known 
as the English Mystery Plays. 

Literary motives know no national boundaries ; therefore it is not 
surprising that we find our English plays in close connection with 
the French, and can watch in the Italian and German the action of 
the national spirit under diverse literary influences upon a common 
literary material. But this inheritance came from the mother churrh. 
The church in the Middle Ages was the conservator of letters. A 
spirit of devotion produced the church drama. A comprehension of 
this drama within the church, and of the causes that gave rise to it, 
can be gained only through the study of the liturgy and of its 
sources, w-hich, in turn, leads us back to the foundation of the 
church itself. 

The exploration of the dramatized Bible story necessitated, there- 
fore, a sketch of the growth of dramatic symbolism in the early 
liturgy. It has been shown in outline how the church on the one 
hand drew into its service dramatic elements from the Greek, and, on 
the other, sought in the West a more materialistic phrasing for its 
thought. When these materialistic conceptions found final issue in 
transubstantiation, the symbolic drama became a true tragedy, and 
the cycle o/ the liturgy became the prototype of the cyclic play. 

Little by little the plays that clustered about the two most touch- 
ing festivals of the church, the Crucifixion and the Birth of Christ, 
approached each other, and the whole antecedent Bible story, to- 
gether with the doom of saint and sinner, fell naturally into place as 
cause and consequence of these two central movements of a world 
drama. 

All literary activities w^ere drawn into line with the church, or 
denounced as impious. The material through which the spirit of 
the day could best and most safely express itself was the church 
drama. As a consequence, the religious drama that arose there- 
from represents most accurately those ill-defined movements of the 
national spirit which determine a literature as national. 

This religious drama became the truest exponent of the folk-spirit 
w^hen it had passed from the church through the Puy to the Confre- 



172 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 

rie in France, to the Meistersiinger in Germany, or to the craft-gild 
in England. Its fraternization with the comedy of the hedge-rows, 
last scion of the ancient dramatic stock, produced the Feast of Fools 
and the Feast of the Ass in France. Touched with the spirit of 
earnest criticism which gives to England her power of self-renova- 
tion, it became in its last days the precursor of the satirical comedy 
in politics and manners. Its unorganized mass has been a quarry 
of literary material for later authors, and motives kindred to our 
thought are still found within its content. 

In France the plays were more especially the exponent of the 
literati and of the nobility, but in England they pulsed with the life 
of the crafts. Religious, j)hilanthropic, and economic motives lay at 
the basis of the gild life. The processions, pageantry, and votive 
offerings, through which the gild expressed its corporate devotion, 
presented faithfuU'y the religious spirit of the artisan. Through an 
adaptation of pageantry, its customary vehicle of homage, the civic 
body did honor to its earthly sovereign in the Koyal Entry. A com- 
mon spirit shaj^ed a common material to i-eligious, divertive and 
political ends, in procession, pageantry, and play. Therefore pa- 
geantry and processional customs bear directly upon the problems 
of the plays, and must be continually kept in mind as ofttimes con- 
ditioning the form of the play itself. 
/ The craft plays were the favorite literature of the people for about 
two centuries.! In them are embedded phases of thought prevalent 
in successive generations of men. Their sympathy with life fore- 
tokens the drama of life, the Shakespeare who purifies the native 
drama in the alembic of the classic. 

Since a cycle, as that of York, was the expression of the mind of 
generations, it might be expected that its contents would change as 
successive standards of taste or opinion prevailed. As each play 
was in great measure the peculiar jjroperty of one gild, its fortunes 
must have been intimately connected with those of the gild. A 
sumptuous pageant wagon and skilled actors fitly represented an 
opulent gild. A fusion of plays through the excision of scenes ad- 
vertised the joint labors of weaker crafts. Thus it came about that 
a cycle contains the plays, independent or revised, of many writers 
of different periods and schools, and that these plays, when popular, 
passed from cycle to cycle, or influenced powerfully the style of 
new plays. 

A lack of appreciation of this intimacy of connection between play 
and gild life and fortune, has heretofore prevented an earnest inquiry 



Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 173 

as to the possibly composite characters of the cycles. Such inquiry 
as has been noiade failed of results, because the key to the metrical 
problem was sought in the dialect, and not in the metrical forms. 
The plays as we have them are seriously modified by the labor of 
scribes. These scribes could, and ofttimes did, change the dialect 
essentially ; the metrical structure they could reduce to ruins, but 
could not destroy beyond the possibility of restoration. If, there- 
fore, the individuality, locality, and relative date of stanzaic struc- 
tures were once established, a sure key would be placed in the hands 
of the investigator, through which he could read the secrets of the 
cycles. 

With the establishment and definition of the Northern septenar 
stanza the segregation of a parent York cycle becomes possible, and 
the composite character of single plays of the Woodkirk cycle is 
made evident. The connections among the four cycles now reveal 
themselves, and the commanding position of the York plays can no 
longer be questioned. 

The Mysteries constitute the most important body of connected 
literature in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They contain 
the work of many authors, writing on related subjects in different 
styles and metres. In this work very possibly every generation for 
two centuries is represented. The mass of material is sufficient, and 
its arrangement through the labors of successive authors on single 
plays is such, that the Mystery Plays must become the most impor- 
tant source of literary history for their time, and the determining 
factor in many dialectal questions. 

This monograph simply opens the field for other workers. If it 
has demonstrated the significance of stanzaic structure, unlocked the 
cycles, justified the segregation of certain plays as a parent cycle, 
proved the interdependence of the four craft-cycles in the tAVO extant 
Coventry plays, established characteristics of workmanship and the 
relative dates of two or three authors, the labor of a year will not 
have been in vain. Such a result, however, raises more questions 
than it settles, and invites other explorers. Some first steps may 
have been taken, but final results must be the work of many scholars, 
and embrace the whole body of contemporaneous literature. ( Until 
some approximate statement of the connections between this litera- 
ture and the early Elizabethan has been made, no just estimate can 
be formed of the propdrtions in which the national and classical ele- 
ments combined to produce the golden age of English literature. | 



May 



31334 



I 



STUDIES 



ENGLISH MYSTERY PLAYS 



A Thesis presented to the Philosophical Faculty of 
Yale University 



BY 

' "" CHARLES DAVIDSON 

A CANDIDATE FOB THE DEGREE Off DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. 

1893 



Printed by authority of Yale University 



